Last warning. I’m coming for you tonight. You should run, bitch. Run as far as you can and never come back.
Connor closed his eyes as his own arrogance came crashing down. He’d thought this was all about the case. He’d been so certain that only something as big as the investigation of Natalia Kuilikov and Joy Hayes’s murder could bring this kind of evil into the life of a good person like Lara. He’d forgotten that evil lurked behind even the sweetest of faces.
And a woman scorned really could do massive damage.
“Yes, something’s terribly wrong. Zack, I might need to borrow a few of your men.” He took off, praying he could get to Lara in time.
* * *
Lara backed away, adrenaline pumping through her. “I was just looking for Kiki. I’ll come back later.”
Tom stared at her and then looked down at the knife. “Oh, shit. You thought I was . . . Lara, I’m not going to hurt you. I thought you were her.”
He put the knife down on the table just outside the office and showed her his hands.
“Her?”
Tom nodded. “Kiki. I came here because she was writing up a brief for me.”
She sighed, breathing a little easier though she was still confused. “You have to stop using her like that.”
“Yeah, I fucking know that now. It seemed really harmless. She didn’t seem to mind and she’s really good at it. She’s smart, you know. I didn’t realize she was mind-blowingly cray cray.” Tom’s breath was uneven, his hands shaky. “I should have known it was too good to be true. No woman can blow a man like she can and possibly be sane. I’m serious. She’s got the suction of a Dyson, Lara.”
“You slept with her?” Even though she and Tom were no longer together and hadn’t been for years, she’d thought someone would give her a heads-up when Kiki and Tom changed their status from friends to lovers.
Tom went bright red and he nodded. “I kind of wish I hadn’t now. I know guys like to joke about hot psycho chicks, but damn she’s scary. We should get out of here. I’m worried about what she could do.”
Her brain was reeling with the idea that Tom and Kiki had been together. “What are you talking about?”
He looked back toward her office. “She gave me a key about a year ago. Even after I told her I didn’t want to do the friends-with-benefits thing anymore, she told me to keep it, but she always locks her office. She told me it was because she had sensitive documents back there.”
Lara had heard the same. Kiki worked for a law firm that had ties to the Department of Justice. “Why would you break up with her if she’s as good as you say she is?”
“Because I’m still in love with you.” His face softened. “Lara, I know I screwed up. I didn’t treat you the way I should have or try hard enough. Lately, I’ve had time to think about where we went wrong. We should talk to a therapist. We’re so good as friends, but we could be great lovers, too.”
She’d learned a lot about that in the last week. “Oh, sweetie, we have no chemistry.”
“How can you say that? We’re great together,” he argued even as he looked around Kiki’s apartment. “Seriously, we should get out of here. I don’t know when she’s coming back.”
Lara’s instincts flared as she stepped toward Kiki’s home office. There must be some reason Tom had been standing in the doorway, clutching a knife. “What does she have back there?”
He followed her. “I think she’s been sending you the nasty texts. Lara, you have to know that I didn’t realize it until now.”
She barely listened to Tom. Instead, she stepped into the office. Lara only had to take in a glance before her eyes went wide. Everywhere she looked she found pictures of Tom. It looked as if they’d been taken over the years. She recognized a picture of Tom in college and one right after they’d all graduated. There were shots of him smiling at the camera, but most of the images looked like he had no idea he was being photographed. They were pictures of Tom walking into his office or sitting with friends in a restaurant. They looked as if they’d been taken with a telephoto lens. She remembered when Kiki had bought the camera three years before. The woman had even offered to photograph her ill-fated wedding to Tom.
The wedding Kiki had talked her out of.
Lara wasn’t upset about that. She and Tom really hadn’t worked, but looking around this room, she had to wonder if Kiki hadn’t had another, more selfish reason for persuading her not to get married.
“She follows you.”
Tom stepped beside her, his voice grim. “She’s been stalking me. When did you start getting those texts?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Around the time you started talking to that douche online?”
“Yes. What does Niall have to do with anything?”
“When you started talking to him, I realized I had to get off my ass and get you back. I told her I was going to do whatever it took. That was when I started asking you if you wanted to go to the movies and stuff.”
“I thought that was just as friends.” She’d turned him down because she’d had so much work to do and she’d wanted to spend her evenings talking to Niall . . . who had turned out to be Connor.
“Yeah, but I intended to ease you back into being my girlfriend,” Tom admitted. “The idea of you falling for some asshole in California really gave me the kick in the pants I needed. I even asked Kiki’s advice on how to get you back. I think that’s when she started sending you those texts.”
“She doesn’t have a motorcycle.” But Lara’s stomach churned as she saw a picture of the three of them. They were arm in arm, with Kiki and Tom smiling at the camera. Lara couldn’t smile because her face had been viciously cut out.
“Um, that’s where I found the knife. It was kind of sticking out of your face. And she might not have a motorcycle, but her new boyfriend does,” Tom admitted. “She told me he lets her borrow it. Besides the congressman, she’s been screwing some intern at work. In retrospect, I think she told me to see if I’d get jealous. Apparently she’s not serious about either of them because she thinks I’m her Prince Charming or something. You know this isn’t as sexy as they make it look on TV.”
Lara just blinked. Kiki had been her friend. How could the woman hurt her like that?
Tom put a hand on her shoulder. “I should have told you everything sooner. I didn’t want to hurt you.” He sighed. “She’s always been jealous of you, you know. She talks a lot about how you get everything handed to you and she has
to work for it. I thought it was just female jealousy. I don’t get girl stuff most of the time. I didn’t think she really hated you.”
But looking around this room, Lara could see plainly that Kiki did.
“I need to call Connor.” She reached for her phone then cursed when she realized she’d left it behind.
“You don’t need him, Lara. Didn’t you get the information I sent you? Your bodyguard is working for the White House. He has been all along. Come with me. We’ll call the cops and tell them everything we know about Kiki and get her . . . I don’t know, committed or something.” He reached down to take her hand. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I can protect you. That Connor guy is just another asshole who wants to use you.”
Maybe, but despite everything they’d been through, Connor was the only person she wanted to see now. It was obvious she’d been an idiot to believe that Kiki was her friend. She’d suggested Lara stay with her parents after the e-mail threat, then she’d pushed Lara toward Connor—all after Tom had revealed that he meant to win her back. Lara could have told her that she’d never take Tom back, but Kiki had never mentioned it. She’d never given her the courtesy of knowing they were on opposite sides. Never once hinted that she had feelings for Tom.