Page 20 of Point Blank

Milo grunted. “That’s why she tried to . . . what did you say? Coerce you into working this job?”

Her skin burned, but she wouldn’t take her gaze off the email that had caught her eye to sear him with her stare. She double-clicked on the subject line of the email addressed to Peyton and three others.

“I’m not going to talk about that right now. Look at this,” she said, gesturing to the single paragraph in the body of the email.

I’ve got the blueprints. Mark November 29 in your calendars. We’ll go over the details and any questions Thursday night.

She straightened and turned to Milo. “The email was sent two days ago. Their meeting would have been last night,” she said. Milo leaned closer to read the email.

Milo took the computer and put it in Sleep mode. “Whoever took her could have been someone inside her team. A mole, maybe. We need to take her computer and get back to my place. I’ll have Rhett trace the IP addresses of the people CC’d on the email.”

Hope surged through her, giving her a third wave of adrenaline. She stood and made a beeline for Dani’s bedroom. “I need to grab a few things,” she called. There was no time to stop at her apartment for clean clothes. She’d have to make do with some of Dani’s. She scooped up her Gucci weekend bag—Dani would kill her—and helped herself to her sister’s clothes and makeup. Thank god they were similar in size.

“C’mon, S.”

She snagged Dani’s cardigan from the end of the bed, since her own was doused in blood, and made her way back to the main living area.

“Sorry, I need clothes.”

Milo grunted and tucked her sister’s laptop under his arm. “Let’s go.” He stopped at the front door and lowered his eye to the peephole while Serena kicked off her high heels and fit her feet into Dani’s running shoes.

“Don’t you think whoever has Dani would be with her and not sneaking around her apartment building?” She released the dead bolt and turned the door handle, bringing her much too close to the rigid wall of Milo’s chest.

“I’m not taking any chances. Let me check the hall,” he said, nudging her to the side. The door creaked as he pulled it open, but his eyes locked on hers.

He winked at her. Her breath blew through her lips and her loins clenched beneath her abdomen.

No, don’t do this. Don’t get tangled in his web . . .

Bam!

The front door banged open, and Milo stumbled back. A booted foot retracted, and then a gun moved through the now open door. Panic rooted Serena’s feet to the spot.

“Serena, get down!” Milo dove for the attacker and a shot went off.

Chapter

Five

Serena’s scream sliced through him as his arms locked around the attacker’s body. He blew a punch into the man’s kidney. A grunt of pain rewarded him.

Crack!

A black curtain shuttered in front of his eyes, making him almost lose consciousness. The bastard had smacked the butt of his gun against his skull. Milo hooked his foot around the back of the guy’s knee and shoved at his torso, but he didn’t go down. The fucker was an ox.

Bang!

The sound of metal connecting with a solid surface rang through the air. Then the man’s body went limp and folded to the ground.

Milo jerked his head up. Serena stood behind the attacker wielding a cast-iron pan. Her eyes met his, and the hard lines in her forehead smoothed. She dropped the pan and launched herself at his chest. He winced as she connected with his aching ribs from where the attacker must have struck him.

“Are you okay?” She caught his face in her hands. Concern pinched her brows together.

He lowered her feet to the ground, turning so that she wouldn’t be standing on top of the unconscious man on the floor. Not that he cared if the asshole got trampled.

“I’m fine,” he said, as he ran his palms over her shoulders and down her back. “When that shot went off—” He forced the rest of the sentence down his throat. Her lips parted and her hands twitched on his cheeks.

His mouth firmed, and he nodded at the discarded frying pan. “I didn’t realize you finally learned your way around a kitchen.”