“Andrews’s orders.”
“Ah.” There was a pause as the men looked at her with carnal assumptions. They chuckled in shared appreciation of the situation.
The bastards.
Pepper didn’t look at any of them. She didn’t look at anyone until the goon turned to her.
She saw his slack-jawed expression, the intent in his gaze; he would frisk her, and she knew he would make it as unpleasant as possible.
Raising her chin, she feigned indifference—and suddenly a deafening boom sounded above the clamor of patrons, music and conversation. Gunshot? Where? Who?
Glass exploded from third-story windows, raining down around them. Acrid smoke clogged the air, burning her nostrils. No, not a gunshot. Then…?
Before that thought could fully form, a shrill alarm cut through the night.
Covering her ears, confused by the commotion, Pepper cowered. At that first loud blast, her nerves had shattered. A mingling of fear and confusion kept her heart racing double-time.
What had happened?
Weapons drawn, two other guards ran past them while talking into headpieces. Screams sounded out front, followed by a stampede of bodies fleeing the building.
Shoved to the side, Pepper fell to her rump, then scampered back farther. She crouched there until in the midst of shouted orders she heard the word bomb.
Oh. Dear. God.
Everything suddenly made sense. She looked up to see smoke pouring from the windows. Someone had exploded a bomb on the third floor of the club.
The floor Morton Andrews used for his office.
The office…where he’d been waiting to talk to her.
* * *
“WE MIGHT NOT be able to find her.” Rowdy, who rode with him, got more uneasy by the moment. “She knows how to hide.”
Logan had firsthand knowledge of just how adept Pepper could be at hiding. Hell, he’d had sex with her and hadn’t gotten a good look at her. “I hope you’re right.” Going a little too fast, he turned the corner. They were now only minutes from the club. “She can’t very well launch an attack on anyone while hiding away.”
A distant siren sounded, growing louder by the moment.
Rowdy sat forward. “Smoke.”
“What?” More sirens, joined by flashing lights.
“In the sky.” Rowdy’s shoulders bunched. He tunneled his fingers into his hair, and his jaw loosened. “Son of a bitch…”
A fire truck pulled up to the club just ahead of them. Another was already there. Firefighters launched into action. A small crowd milled outside, some sitting on the curb, others bent double coughing. An ambulance blazed onto the scene, but they didn’t see anyone injured.
“She wouldn’t,” Rowdy said. He grabbed Logan’s arm. “She wouldn’t.”
Acid burned in Logan’s gut. His jaw clenched so tight that his temples throbbed.
Smoke poured from the shattered windows of the upper floor of the club. Most of the damage appeared to be in the back of the building. From the look of it… “A bomb.”
Furious, Rowdy jerked Logan around. “Pepper would never do anything like that, so get that idea out of your head right now.” Then, breathing fast and hard, his expression bleak, he sank back. “Jesus, what if she was inside?”
“No.” Logan couldn’t bear that thought. At the moment, his brain felt almost numb. Possibilities chewed on his conscience, each one worse than the one before.
He had to think. He had to figure out what to—
Rowdy lurched against his door, trying to get it open, but Logan hit the locks.
Turning on him, Rowdy shouted, “She could be in there! She could—”
Logan’s cell rang.
Both men stalled. Logan jerked out the phone and opened it on the first ring. “Pepper?”
“Logan.” Her voice was high and shrill. “Oh, my God, Logan.”
“Where are you?” He scanned the area, looking for her, praying he’d find her.
“There was an explosion.”
He heard the trembling of her voice. He heard the shock. She needed him to take over, and that’s exactly what he’d do. “It’s okay now. Tell me where you are.”
“There were people inside,” she continued, as if she hadn’t even heard him. “Music and noise and I was…a guard was ready to frisk me, and then he was going to take me in to see Morton.”
“So you’re still outside?” Was she even now being watched by Morton’s men? “Is anyone with you?”
“The guards all ran off. At first, I wasn’t sure what had happened, but then someone mentioned…a bomb.” She choked. “I don’t know if anyone was hurt. I don’t know if Morton is still alive.”
“It’ll be okay, I swear.” He could hear her breathing, but she said nothing. Going with sudden inspiration, Logan said, “Pepper, Rowdy wants to talk to you. Don’t you dare hang up on me, honey. Do you understand? I’m giving the phone to your brother.”
Rowdy grabbed the cell from Logan, saying in a rush, “Are you okay?”
Rowdy hesitated, nodded, and as he slumped back in the seat he closed his eyes. “Thank God.”
“Tell her to come to us.” Logan continued scanning the outskirts of the area. Reese approached from the other side of the devastation, walking, staring in amazement. He looked as stunned as Logan felt. “This is dangerous, Rowdy. Too damn dangerous.”
Reese faded back into the shadows, out of the main flow of the milling throng.