Page 50 of Rescued

"Challenge accepted,Princess."

Chapter 14

He zoomedin on the grainy photo on his tablet, his blood pressure rising. Ryder had spent the last thirty minutes reviewing the evidence collected so far in Khloe's stalker case. He owed Davidson one. The model turned club owner had used his celebrity connections to pressure the studio's investigators to forward over everything they'd collected to date on the case to Ryder's secure emailaccount.

He didn't know what infuriated him more. That there was so little evidence other than that provided by the crime photos themselves, or that the people surrounding the actress presently drying her hair in his bathroom didn't seem to be taking the threats against herseriously.

He'd have to read everything more thoroughly later, but his early analysis of the evidence was that he didn't trust anyone in her inner circle. He'd started a list of possible suspects based on the photos, emails and threatening messages along with who had access to her private locations that had beenbreached.

The list was unfortunately long and growing. And her bodyguard, Trevor McLean, was at the top of his list. Something didn't add up with the guy. His first instinct was to fire his ass and keep him as far away from Khloe as he could, but he knew Khloe herself would dig in to try to protect him, which only made Ryder hate the guy that muchmore.

No, better to keep him close–watch himcarefully.

He jumped when Khloe stepped close. He'd been so focused, he'd not heard herapproaching.

"Where did you get thatpicture?"

Something about the tone of her voice made him turn to watch her. "Why?"

"Tell me! Where did you get that?" Her voice cracked withanxiety.

"Davidson sent it over. It's part of the evidence the studio investigators collected. Why does it upsetyou?"

Of all of the photos he'd reviewed, this one of Khloe talking to Trevor seemed pretty benign. She was facing away from the camera and the shot was taken too close for him to sort out where they were located. Taking a closer look, he didn't care for the look on McLean's face as he spoke with his boss,Khloe.

"Where was this taken?" he asked again. When she didn't answer, he added, "Andwhen?"

She'd turned pale. The photo clearly unnerved her. "It was taken in the lobby of my New York apartment building the night of the first break-in. I was scared shitless. The police held back all photographers though. We didn't want any photos like this floating around and making it into thetabloids."

Ryder made a mental note to find out exactly who had authorized the secretphotos.

He knew she wouldn't like it, but he had to speak up. "Tell me more about TrevorMcLean."

She glanced up at him, curious, but answered. "What do you want to know? He's been with me almost two years now." She must have sensed where this was going because she added on, "I trust Trevorcompletely."

"That may be, but you have to admit, he has more access to you than anyone else. I've only seen photos and news feeds, but even I can tell he has the hots for you. How do you know he isn't behind the threats, trying to drive you to depend on himmore?"

"Oh come on. That's ridiculous," she protested verbally, but even her Oscar-worthy acting skills couldn't hide the worry line on her brow. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but he knew Khloe had already given that possibility somethought.

"I have a lot more questions, but we need to head out if we want to get you there byeleven."

"I can't believe you're gonna make me wear this ridiculous outfit," shecomplained.

He'd called Aunt Ginny for help with a woman's wardrobe change, not wanting to put his passenger back into her elegant gown for the ride back to the city. It hadn't been as conspicuous in the dark of the night, but in midday Friday traffic on an L.A. freeway, her gown would draw unwanted attention. The sizes-too-big jeans held up with a belt and the black T-shirt would have todo.

"Aw come on. You look great," heteased.

He grabbed his already packed duffle before taking her hand and heading out to the Harley. It made him smile to see how excited she was to be riding the bike again. He'd half expected her to be afraid of the powerful machine. He punched the address of the studio into his smartphone before taking off for the drive back to civilization. He looked forward to the trip, especially when his passenger hugged him tighter as he gunnedit.

Fifty minutes later, they pulled up to the guard shack of the Burbank studio where Khloe's next movie was being filmed. He'd asked Davidson to have his name added to the approved visitor's list, but was anxious to see exactly how much security vetting took place at the studio gates. Unfortunately, he wasn't surprised when all he had to do to gain entrance was give his name to the guard who checked his computer, and finding Ryder Helms on some list, granted him access to the grounds without even asking to see anyidentification.

He'd definitely be discussing the breach with the head of security right before he chewed him a new asshole for putting Khloe at risk with their amateurcrap.

He hadn't even cut the engine to the bike when Trevor McLean rushed out of the luxury trailer. The asshole had the nerve to pull Khloe from the back of the bike before he'd even taken his helmetoff.

"I can't believe you took off like that. You gave me a Goddamn heart attack." The asshole was turning her around, inspecting her as if she'd beeninjured.

As soon as he had their helmets secured, Ryder stepped next to Khloe, wrapping his left arm around her waist possessively as he reached his right hand out for a handshake. "RyderHelms"

---