Her comment brought the first genuine chuckle from my lips. Roxanne visited Pelican Bay once in the last three years she’d been working for me. It was during Clearwater’s Lumberjack Festival. If I said she wasn’t amused, it would be an understatement. Horrified did a better job describing her expression.
But sadly, she’d have to make a decision sooner or later. Once my father passed the entire Kensington Corporation to me, I planned to move my base of operations to Pelican Bay. Most offices could stay in New York, but I would need an assistant here. Roxanne had to make her choice when that happened.
My cell phone beeped and my gaze fell to it absentmindedly.
“Shit, Roxanne. I need to go.”
“Wait,” she said, but I barely heard the word before I’d placed the phone back in the receiver.
With my thumb I unlocked the phone and read the text one more time to make sure I saw it correctly.
LEE: 911
The simple three digits sent my heart into a panic. What would make one of Ridge’s battle hard warriors use the international sign for distress?
I tapped on his name twice and listened as the phone rang.
“Pierce,” Lee said unaware of the panic happening on my end of the line.
“Cut to the chase.”
“I thought you’d want to know. Katy and an unknown woman just snuck into the Pelican Bay High School through a classroom window on the west side of the building.”
I knew it had to be something with Katy. It was always Katy.
“Was she carrying a weapon?”
The line was silent for a moment. “What? No.”
“Are you sure? Sometimes she likes to hide them on her person.”
Another beat of silence.
“Well, I didn’t frisk her or anything. I maintained a covered position outside of school. Ridge said this job was watch and report only.”
I should’ve known to put more riders into the contract. “It’s never that simple with Katy.”
“Do you want me to pursue?”
“No!” My refusal came out too fast and loud to be casual. “I’ll take care of it,” I said in a much calmer tone—one that contradicted my heartbeat. I knew firsthand the men Ridge hired to join his team. I didn’t want one of his big burly types within fifty feet of Katy. She saw enough of the macho men at the bakery. I didn’t need more competition.
We hung up quickly, and I left my suit coat on the back of my chair in my haste to get out of the house. My car waited in the driveway, and I made quick time to the high school, leaving the vehicle in the parking lot and walking the rest of the way.
On the west side of the building, one short stubby window at the top of a room sat cracked open, wide enough to get a Katy sized body squeezed through. My fingers itched to grab my phone, ready to call the superintendent and gain access to the building, but it wouldn’t do Katy or me any good to alert more authorities of her presence.
As much as I hated to admit it, she was good at sneaking into buildings. Anywhere she wasn’t wanted or shouldn’t be, Katy had a knack for invading.
I leaned up against the building, right next to the window, positive they would come out the same way they went in, and was rewarded less than five minutes later when I heard her voice speaking in a hushed tone. Either her voice carried through the open window or I’d grown attuned to her. I sensed her from afar.
The first set of feet hit the ground, and the person stumbled. I reached out and used my hand to keep the unnamed body standing. A pair of wide eyes and dark brunette hair stared at me in worry. I lifted a finger to my lips and gave her the sign to be quiet. She wasn’t who I came here to yell at today. More than likely she’d ultimately be somebody else’s problem eventually, if she wasn’t already.
This second set of feet hit the ground, these more limber than their earlier companion.
“Getting another woman in trouble, Katy?” Whoever she brought along on this adventure wasn’t one of the usual conspirators from the bakery. If she was branching out, we were in trouble.
Katy’s eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed into annoyance as she glared at me before crossing her arms over her chest. “Are you standing here looking for your next girlfriend?”
I ground my teeth together not wanting her to see how her words annoyed me. One fucking time I dated an eighteen-year-old, and she’d never let me forget it or stop the cradle-robbing jokes. At twenty-three I had been a little older than her, but Katy placed the offense high on her list of grievances.
