Legal Heat

Chapter Twenty-Three


Katy’s heart pounded as she crept through Hi-Tech’s clinical lab, using the tiny flashlight attached to her keychain to light her way. Any minute now she expected the security guards to rush in and grab her. She had been incredulous when they had let her in after she had shown them her business card and the access pass and spun a story about how she’d left her purse in the document room this morning. Martha’s story. Of course it might have helped that they’d been told Steele was expecting her in half an hour.

Determined as she was to bring down Steele, she wasn’t prepared to do anything illegal. She would find Martin’s journals, smuggle them downstairs to the document room, and then put them into the box of documents she had copied this morning. The box had been too heavy to carry and Steele’s secretary had promised to courier it to her office on Monday. She couldn’t be accused of theft if the documents were freely given. If anyone caught her in the lab, she could just say she had lost her way going to Steele’s office. Dicey, but do-able.

Too bad Ted would have the fun of uncovering the secrets in Martin’s journals.

She dragged her fingers through her hair. She was taking a gamble by assuming Steele had not already found Martin’s lab books and a bigger gamble trusting a client who had withheld information from her.

Footsteps sounded in the hallway. Katy froze. Blood pounding through her veins, she ducked under a battered wooden desk covered with books, boxes and papers. The door creaked open. The beam of a flashlight shone around the room, and then the door banged shut. A routine check. Relieved she slid out from under the desk. Martin’s desk. It had to be. There were no other wooden desks in the lab.

The key Martha had given her fit the lock on the bottom drawer. She unlocked it and found a stack of notebooks with Martin’s name penciled neatly across the front.

Her lucky day. She grabbed the notebooks and stuffed them into her briefcase.

Now to get to the document room.





“What the hell is going on?”

Although he wasn’t surprised to see Gordon with a gun, he couldn’t help the exclamation escaping from his mouth when Gordon pointed the gun at him.

Heart racing, he looked over at Steele, now perched on the edge of his desk. Until seconds ago, everything had been going as smoothly as things could go for a prisoner in Steele’s palatial office. Steele had gone to make his calls. Gordon had joined him in the office. They’d had a drink, shared a few war stories, watched a few minutes of the news on Steele’s big screen TV. Steele had reappeared and asked Gordon to step outside. When they returned, Steele had a grimace and Gordon had a gun.

Steele folded his arms and sighed. “Your kitty is here and she’s been very naughty. Overly curious. Like you.”

Mark’s gut twisted and time seemed to slow. What had she done?

“Where is she?” he growled.

Steele smiled but his dark eyes were cold and hard. “So selfless. So caring. Your life is in danger and you’re thinking about her. Such a shame you didn’t care as much about Claire. Maybe she would be alive today.”

Fist raised, Mark took a step toward Steele. Gordon cleared his throat and waved him back with the gun.

“I tried to protect you,” Steele said. “I purposely did not give you all the information about the settlements with the cleaners because I knew you would see them for what they really were. And what did I get in return for my efforts? Nothing. You wouldn’t follow my directions. You wouldn’t hire an investigator. You wouldn’t keep your mouth closed or your eyes shut. You wouldn’t even warn that kitty away.”

Mark swallowed and looked at the door only two quick strides away. He needed to get out. Warn Katy. “There’s no need for the gun.” He raised his voice on the last word, hoping James would hear through the wire, wherever he was, and come to the rescue.

“We differ again,” Steele sighed. “The gun is necessary because you know too much. Not only that, you betrayed me. And all because you couldn’t resist a little p-ssy. Did you think I needed you here tonight just to witness a settlement agreement? You’re here, Mark, to say your goodbyes. To Claire. To your kitty. To me. I can’t have any loose ends or flapping tongues. There is too much at stake.”

Where. The. F*ck. Is. James?

The door opened.

Katy’s angry shriek rang through the office. An oversized security guard dragged her in front of Steele’s desk, pinning her against his chest with a massive arm.

“Here’s our curious kitty now,” Steele chortled.

Mark’s heart pounded and he scanned the room, desperate to find a way out.

Katy squirmed and struggled in the security guard’s grasp. “Let me go. Obviously I can’t run away so there’s no point trying to break my arm.”

Mark took a step in her direction. Gordon coughed a warning and he froze.

“I found her outside one of the labs downstairs,” the security guard said. “She told me she’d left her purse in the document room this morning. She had a pass and an appointment with you so I let her through. When I caught her, she told me she’d got herself lost on the way.”

“I’m surrounded by idiots,” Steele muttered. “Did anyone not notice she’s carrying her purse?” He walked across the room and grabbed Katy’s purse and briefcase out of her hands.

“A girl can have more than one purse,” Katy snapped.

Steele slapped her. The crack sliced through Mark’s brain unleashing a tidal wave of rage. He lunged for Steele. Gordon stepped between them and shoved the barrel of his gun into Mark’s stomach.

“Back off,” he growled.

Jaw clenched tight, body trembling, Mark raised his hands and took a step away.

“That’s how you tame a kitty.” Steele stroked a finger over Katy’s bright red cheek. “You let her know right away who’s in charge.”

Katy narrowed her eyes and growled.

“She likes it,” Steele chuckled. “Listen to her purr.”

“Bastard.” Katy hit his hand away.

Steele barked a cold laugh. “You’re the one who broke into my office. I’m the victim here.”

“I walked in. I showed my ID. The guards consented to my entry. I just got lost on the way to get my purse.”

“I think I’ve heard that one before.”

Mark’s hands balled into fists. “Let her go, Steele.”

“Not until I get what I want.” Steele opened Katy’s briefcase and pulled out a bundle of notebooks. He flipped through them and his face tightened.

“Kowalski’s missing lab books! We thought he’d shredded them. Oh, dear kitty. That curious nose has got you in trouble again. And I don’t see a settlement agreement here. Looks like you and Mark will share the same tragic fate. Like Romeo and Juliet.”

Katy gasped and staggered back.

“Steele. No.” Mark’s pulse pounded through his veins. If James didn’t get his ass down here quickly, illicit pharmaceuticals would be the least of his worries.

Steele threw the notebooks on this desk and then grabbed Katy’s chin between his finger and thumb, forcing her head back. “I don’t understand you. It was a simple dismissal case. Why couldn’t you leave it at that?”

Katy jerked her head, trying to break Steele’s grip. “I’m a sucker for justice and you left too many clues I couldn’t ignore.”

Steele tightened his grip and Katy hissed in a breath. “Clever kitty. Too clever for your own good. We’ll have to think of a clever way for you to die.”

Katy’s eyes flicked over Mark, her fear clear to see despite her outward show of bravado. He shook his head, warning her to keep quiet.

Steele caught their exchange. “Don’t look at him. He would have sold his soul to keep you safe. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

He released Katy and nodded to the security guard. “Get me some rope and duct tape. We don’t want our kitty to escape again.”

“Yes, sir.” The guard left, closing the door behind him with a dull thud.

Steele sighed and settled himself in his chair. “You disappoint me, Gordon. You should have finished her off when you took care of Kowalski.”

“No pay. No body. You said to scare her, not kill her.”

“You?” Katy’s eyes opened wide and she stared at Gordon. “You were at the apartment? You killed Andrew McIntyre?”

“It was touch and go for a while.” Steele shook his head in mock regret. “He did a much better job with Silver. Clean. Quick. Efficient. No evidence. But really, you shouldn’t be so horrified. Silver and McIntyre were dying anyway. Aggressive lymphatic cancer—another unfortunate side effect of the drug. They only had a few weeks to live. Gordon did them a favor.”

Mark’s mind raced. If the wire was working, James would have more than enough evidence to arrest Steele and Gordon. Something must be wrong. He had to act. He just needed a distraction.

The door behind them clicked open.

“Mr. Steele, I’ve got the rope.” The security guard stepped inside. Mark saw his chance. He powered toward the unsuspecting guard, keeping his body low. A bullet whizzed past his shoulder and hit the wall with a loud thud. But Mark kept going. Within seconds he had reached his target. He rammed his shoulder into the guard’s sternum, knocking the wind out of him. The guard doubled over and Mark’s fist connected with his jaw, sending him reeling back into the wall, stunned. Another blow rendered the guard unconscious, and he slid down the wall to the floor.

A second shot rang out and splinters exploded outward from the door. Mark grabbed Katy and shoved her into the hallway. “Run.”

“Not without you.”

“Go,” he shouted. He pulled the door closed and locked it.

She was safe.

Now it was time to deal with Steele.





The front door of the building opened and Lana jerked to attention. Katy barreled out of the building at full tilt.

What the hell? She fumbled on the seat for her camera as Katy ran to her car. Why the urgency?

Katy pulled on the door handle, and then slammed her hand on the door and screamed. Quite an overreaction for losing her keys. Maybe she was having a bad day.

Lana lifted her camera and peered through the lens. Only then did she see the shadow detach itself from the darkness. Not a shadow. A man. Tall, slightly stooped. Lana snapped a few pictures before she even realized the danger. Woman alone. Dark parking lot. Man behind her. Her eyes widened and she reached for the door handle.

The man must have spoken because Katy turned around. Through the camera lens, she saw him jab a hypodermic needle into Katy’s neck. Katy staggered back against her car. He caught her when she collapsed and scooped her up in his arms. He stepped out of the shadows and Lana saw his face. A familiar face. The man who ate icing and not cake. The ex.

Oh God. Oh God. What should she do? She opened the door, but even as her foot hit the pavement, she knew she wouldn’t make it. They were too far away. By the time she was out of the car, he had already unlocked Katy’s vehicle and put her in the back seat. Bastard must have kept his set of keys.

“Help!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, but who would be hanging around a vacant parking lot at night?

He froze and turned in Lana’s direction. Lana threw herself back in the Jetta and lay trembling on the seat. Thank God she had parked in the shadows. She scrambled to find her phone, remembering, as her fingers touched the plastic, the two beeps she had heard earlier. Dead.

With one last look in Lana’s direction, the ex jumped in Katy’s Acadia and started the engine. Lana turned her key. Nothing.

Please, please, oh please, baby, please.

Tires squealed as the Acadia pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto Broadway Street. Lana tried again.

A cough. A wheeze. Then the Jetta roared to life. She stomped on the accelerator and peeled out of the parking lot. She could just see the Acadia’s tail lights in the distance ahead of her. She kept her foot down, praying she wouldn’t hit a red light.

Police. Police. Police. Where were the police when she actually needed them?

The Jetta wheezed as it raced down the street and Lana tried to remember if her course had covered high-speed chases. Why hadn’t she paid more attention in class? Water dripped onto her arm and she looked up. Leak? No. Tears. She touched her face and realized she was crying.

Dammit. Pull up your big-girl panties, Lana.

The Jetta coughed and she looked at the gas gauge. Almost empty. Could the day get any worse? Please don’t leave the city. Please don’t leave the city. The mantra worked. The ex turned up Main Street and then drove a zigzag course through the streets until he pulled up in front of a derelict apartment building. Pulse racing, Lana parked a few spaces down and watched him carry an unconscious Katy into the building.

When she saw a light on the second floor, she threw herself out of the Jetta and raced down the street to the convenience store they had passed only a block back. Her heart thundered as she pounded the pavement in a performance worthy of an Olympic medal. Gotta finda phone. Wheeze. Gotta finda phone.





For the first time in his life, Mark felt gratitude for the years he had spent on the streets and the lessons he had learned. He threw himself to the floor just before a bullet embedded itself in the wall above him, then rolled and came up in a crouch. “Steele, call him off,” he yelled. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I won’t have this launch compromised. It’s worth too much. We’ve invested ten years and millions of dollars to get the drug to market and that damn lab tech almost ruined everything. Gordon has been working day and night trying to clean up the mess. He had to retrieve the samples that deadbeat dealer left with his girlfriend, get rid of the dealer and then contain the damage as your kitty ran amok.”

Mark looked around. Nowhere to hide. He could play cat and mouse but inevitably Gordon would win.

Unless he ran out of bullets. Or, by some miracle, the cavalry arrived.

He would have to stall for time, draw Gordon’s fire.

Hope.

“What happened to you, Steele? After you saw what the drug did to those four cleaners, how could you try again and put so many lives at risk?”

Steele’s face tightened. “I wanted Claire’s death to mean something. I shouldn’t have given her the drug, but she begged and pleaded and I was curious. We’d already had incredible results in the preliminary tests. I wanted to know if it worked on women. I never thought it would kill her.” His voice caught in his throat. “Her drug addiction made it easy to cover up. She trusted me…” His voice trailed off.

“You killed her.” The world fell out from under him. It wasn’t his fault after all. And the cause of her death was standing in front of him.

Steele sighed. “I loved her. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I have to live with what happened every day. But so many people will benefit from this drug. It will be her legacy. She died to bring happiness and sexual fulfillment to the masses.”

Gordon had lowered the gun as he listened to Steele. Mark saw the faintest sliver of hope.

Keep Steele talking.

“What about all the other people who will suffer side effects? You’re destroying lives.”

Steel shrugged. “It happens all the time. A sacrifice for the greater good.”

Gordon’s gun dropped lower. Mark saw his chance. He threw himself sideways, hitting Gordon side-on and into the wall. Gordon’s head snapped against the plaster. The gun fell to the ground and Gordon slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Steele lunged for the gun and Mark let loose. Only barely aware of the door crashing open, he pummeled Steele until four police officers pulled him away.

“It’s over.” James’s voice was firm and steady in his ear.

“No.” He pushed James’s arm away. “I need to get Katy.”