She lived in a quaint little house on the corner of Commitment Court in North Las Vegas. Ben knew because he'd made it a point to know everything there was to know about Victoria Lashley. He called it one of his hobbies; anybody else who'd known would most likely call it stalking. The drive from his place to hers would normally take about thirty minutes. Tonight, with the information he'd just received and riding his Ducati 1199 Panigale motorcycle, it took him fifteen.

He drove his bike with intensity and focus that he only used when he was in the courtroom or the boxing ring. It gave him a powerful and unbeatable feeling that couldn't be matched. Tonight, as the dry night air whipped over his face and he made that last turn onto her street, he realized he didn't feel unbeatable. He felt angry as h.e.l.l, a rock-like sense of dread settling deep in his stomach.

Cop cars were pulled up in front of the house along with an ambulance. As he parked his bike and secured his helmet, he looked up to see a stretcher being pushed from the house. He was off the bike and across the lawn in about thirty seconds, only to have an officer's hand clamp tightly on his arm.

"Hold it buddy, this is a crime scene," the officer said in a gruff, just about rude voice.

Ben jerked his arm away. "First, I'm not your buddy. I'm Ben Donovan and I'm here to see Ms. Lashley."

"I don't care if you're the King of G.o.dd.a.m.ned England," the officer had started to say.

"Hall, let him go," another deep voice ordered from behind Ben.

"He's with me," Noah told the younger, obviously more inexperienced cop who then looked at Ben and took a step back. His glare was still lethal, his right hand resting on his side arm.

Ben didn't waste another second with the cops or their egos. He pushed by and had to run a few steps down the walkway as the paramedics pushing the stretcher had it almost to the ambulance. He came up beside it, seeing first blood and cursing loudly.

"What are you doing here?" her voice was thin, a little shaky. Ben hated how it sounded.

"I came as soon as I heard."

Her hair was a wispy mess, her eyes swollen, red, tearing. There were flecks of blood on her face and more on her hands and coming through the knees of her sweat pants.

"Why would you have heard about this? About me?" She was obviously confused and obviously in pain as she winched when he touched her face to wipe away a piece of gla.s.s.

Not wanting to keep her on the street longer, holding up treatment, Ben shook his head. "I'll meet you at the hospital," he told her.

"Why?" she asked again, but he'd already signaled to the paramedics to take her away. He was headed back to his bike when Noah looked up and Ben signaled him over.

"What happened? What do you know?" he asked as he put on his helmet.

"She told the 911 operator before she dropped the phone that she'd just locked her doors when she heard the window breaking. Tear gas followed and she fell to the floor."

"Tear gas? Who uses tear gas to break into somebody's house? And why didn't they try to come in afterwards?" Ben asked.

Noah nodded towards the house to the left of Victoria's. "Neighbor heard the noise when he was taking his trash out, said there was a car parked across the street." Noah took a step closer to Ben and whispered. "A gray Lexus."

Ben cursed and started his bike. "I'm going to the hospital. Call me when you wrap this up."

He hadn't waited to hear Noah's reply.

CHAPTER 7.

"Who are you?"

The woman garbed in all purple and a familiar scowl asked him this the minute he pulled back the curtain to the s.p.a.ce where they were examining Victoria.

"I'm Ben Donovan, ma'am," he said, clamping down on his anger and the urgency to see Victoria because he suspected this was her mother.

They had the same complexion and high cheekbones. Her hair was a different color, but he didn't believe that was natural. It had probably been as dark as Victoria's years ago. And she was looking at him the same way her daughter had earlier today in the elevator.

"I didn't hear a doctor before that name, so what are you doing back here?"

She'd narrowed her eyes as she glared at him, taking a step closer. Ben tried for charm.

"I'm a colleague of your daughter's, ma'am. I just came to make sure she's alright."

"A colleague? How did you know she was here? I just got the call about twenty minutes ago. I don't see why they would call someone from her job so quickly."

He could see where Victoria got her skepticism.

"Ben?" Victoria whispered from the bed. "Mom, let him in."

Her mother looked at him like she had more questions, but moved to the side so Ben could get past. Ben felt her eyes on him as he moved closer to the bed. The term "watching him like a hawk" felt like an understatement. His neck felt it was burning because he knew her eyes were fixated on him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Victoria.

Her face, normally a very light complexion, was red and splotchy. The gray of her eyes seemed a little muted as red and puffiness surrounded them. She was no longer crying or tearing up, which was good because seeing that had given Ben an unexpected jolt.

"I'll be okay. The burning in my eyes has ceased a bit." She coughed and Ben hurried to the table beside her to pour a cup of water. He handed it to her and she drank deeply.

A few seconds later she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'll be fine," she stated firmly.

Ben nodded. "I know you will. I talked to the doctor. They're going to keep you until morning."

"What? No. I can't stay here. I'm just fine. I'm going home," she protested and tried to push at the sheets on the bed.

"You are not," her mother came to the other side of the bed, pulling the sheets back up and tucking them tightly beneath her arms. "If the doctor says you need to stay, you'll stay."

The feisty older woman met Ben's gaze with tight lips.

"Your mother's right," he said, looking down at Victoria. "Besides, your window needs to be fixed before you can go back home."

"Right, they broke the entire front window," she said with a sigh.

"That's a big window," her mother said. "Kids play too seriously now days."

Ben wondered if he should tell them it wasn't kids. He wondered if Victoria had seen the Lexus before the windows were broken out. Later, he would also wonder why it was he felt like bringing Victoria to his house to stay with him.

"You're working a really high-profile case," he began, figuring it made sense to at least alert Victoria to the possibility of what might be going on. To be forewarned was to be forearmed, he believed. Besides, he already had plans for her protection.

"The police are going to want to investigate the scene a little more closely than they would if it were just a cla.s.sic case of vandalism," he finished.

"But it was just a cla.s.sic case of vandalism, wasn't it?" her mother asked.

"This is my mother, Naomi Lashley," Victoria said by way of introduction. "Listen, I really don't think police investigation is necessary. I'm sure it was just kids driving by and playing a prank." Even as she spoke those words she didn't believe them, but Ben didn't need to know that.

"Like a gang initiation prank?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Yes. No!" she almost yelled.

"Look, I don't want to upset you." Ben moved closer, touching a hand to hers. "I'm not saying definitively that it wasn't vandalism. I'm just saying that in light of the case you're handling, the police are going to take more precautions. And you should take more precaution."

"Do you think there's a hit out on her?" Naomi asked.

"No. No. Nothing that serious," Ben said, but inside he knew it was that serious. There was already a person connected to this case that was missing. Intimidating a DA wasn't something that would scare Vega and his crew.

"I am not being intimidated," Victoria replied seriously. "The police can investigate all they want. First thing tomorrow morning I'm going home and then I'm going back to work. I still have a case to try."

Ben nodded. He'd expected nothing less from her. Naomi stood beside her daughter, holding her hand with a serious look on her face. But she was afraid. Ben could tell.

"Thanks for coming by Ben. Even though I still don't know why you showed up in the first place."

And that was her way of telling him he could leave. Ben wasn't going to argue with her, not now. Besides, he'd come here to see that she was okay, and she was. Now, he'd go home and take care of the rest of this business.

"I'll see you in court," he told her. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Lashley."

Naomi only nodded to him as he walked out of the room. She still watched him carefully, knowingly. Ben smiled at the thought when he was headed for the elevators. If Mrs. Lashley had any idea what he thought of her daughter, she wouldn't have just given him the evil eye, she probably would have punched him out.

"You did what?" Trent asked, his eyes about to bulge out, his fingers flexing at his sides.

"I sat in the courtroom at the preliminary hearings yesterday. I saw Vega," Ben told him.

"Why would you do something so stupid? And why would you do it all alone?" Trent stood, pacing the length of his office.

He moved with very controlled steps, hands at his sides as he thought about strategy. Everything with Trent was about strategy, either divide and conquer or ambush and kill. The SEAL mentality was something he'd never lose entirely. Especially when he thought one of his family members was in danger.

"Look, I wanted to show the guy that he cannot intimidate me. Sending me some note as a message that he can do to me what he did to Ebony is cowardice. If he wants me dead, I want him to know I'm not hiding."

"He doesn't want you dead. At least not yet."

The low, raspy voice belonged to Trent's former captain, Devlin Bonner. Devlin had just returned from Miami where he'd been helping Ben's cousins Sean and Dion Donovan keep their magazine. Now, he was in Vegas, supposedly visiting Trent, but Ben knew it was something else. Devlin had left the Navy SEAL program a year after Trent, but they'd still worked together on special op a.s.signments here and there. At least they had before Trent had married Tia and they'd had a son. Now Trent ran D&D Investigations with Sam Desdune and went home every night to his beautiful wife and child. As for Devlin, Ben had a feeling he was having a harder time breaking free of his soldier mentality and the world of hand-to-hand combat.

"Vega's a professional hitman. He could have you killed in the blink of an eye, the same way he did with your a.s.sistant. Sending you the note was a warning alright, but it was a playful one. The minute he gets serious about taking you out, you'll know it. Same goes for that prosecutor," Devlin continued.

He sat in the corner of Trent's office, the one with the least amount of sunlight from the open blinds. He was a dark-skinned man with steely eyes that resembled pieces of onyx. The scar running in a jagged line from his left ear and across his jaw to stop just before his top lip made him look angry and dangerous, even when he wasn't trying to be angry and dangerous.

"Wait a minute. He's not going to get the opportunity to kill Ben because Ben is going to start taking precautions," Trent interrupted.

"I'm not going to hide, Trent."

Trent shook his head. "You know I'd be the last person to suggest something that ridiculous. What I am saying is that you need to start thinking like a criminal to protect yourself."

"He's right," Devlin added. "Vega likes people to take him seriously. If he's called in on a job that means the job is serious, whether it be about drugs or money, it's important enough to bring in the top of the line to make sure the job gets done right. He was sent to kill the Congressman and his wife, there's no doubt about that. But the former prosecutor could never figure out why. Do you know?"

Ben immediately shook his head. "Client confidentiality. I cannot divulge anything I know about that case."

"Even if it gets you killed," Trent replied skeptically.

"I'm not going to compromise the career I've built for this guy. Besides, I don't know for sure there was a reason he was hired to kill the Congressman. I don't ask those types of questions."

"Really?"

Ben nodded. "It's a lot easier to defend a client when you don't know if he's guilty or not. And believe me, I didn't want to know what Vega was doing or not doing."

"You just wanted to get him off?" Devlin asked with barely masked contempt.

"Everybody is ent.i.tled to a defense. It's my job to defend until proven guilty. I take a lot of pride in my job."

Devlin didn't move a muscle. "And I take a lot of pride in mine. If Vega so much as steps on a blade of gra.s.s in front of your house, I'm shooting his a.s.s. One quick shot to the head," he said, making his fingers into a mock gun and pointing them to his own head. "Dead and done."

Ben believed every word Devlin spoke.

"You need security."

"I do not need or want a bodyguard," Ben said adamantly. "But what I came to see you for was some protection for Victoria. If he's toying with her to get to me, I don't want her hurt."

Trent leaned against the edge of his desk, muscled arms crossing over his chest, and nodded. "I figured as much. I'll a.s.sign someone to her. But let's think about what you just said. Why would Vega toy with Victoria to get to you? There's no connection between you two other than this trial. Right?"

Ben had been thinking about that all night. Vega could simply be after Victoria in an attempt to make her drop this case. But that wasn't her call. She could ask to be removed from the case, but the DA would still prosecute. They wanted Vega behind bars. So there had to be another reason he'd ordered someone to her house last night-because Devlin was absolutely right about one thing, if Vega wanted Victoria dead, she would be.

Ben didn't like how that thought made him feel.

"We went to law school together," he told Trent.

"Did you sleep with her?"

"No," was Ben's adamant reply.

Trent narrowed his gaze on his cousin. "But you wanted to?"

Lying wasn't an option. It wouldn't get them anywhere and Trent would still know. Donovan men knew how to appreciate beautiful women. When he'd come into the office, Trent already had a file on Victoria Lashley, including her very attractive DMV photo sitting on his desk.

Ben shrugged, not ready to let his cousin know that he'd always thought of Victoria as the one that got away. Or the one he'd never been able to catch. "I was interested."

"And she wasn't? Why?" Devlin asked.

"Don't know. Guess the old Donovan charm is slipping."