and Dorian burst out of an office door and barreled down the hall toward us.
CHAPTER 37
In spite of his obvious hurry to get out of the building, he stopped short when he saw Nash and me.
I kept walking, as though to pass him, and tried not to meet his gaze.
Dorian almost kept going, but something in my demeanor caused him to do a double-take, and I knew he’d recognized me.
Dorian whipped out his cell phone and started dialing.
Nash and I drew our guns on him.
“Put the phone down,” I commanded.
He did. I didn’t need to ask him what he was doing here. Of course he’d be on site during a public relations emergency with the client of his career.
“Chloe, are you out of your mind?”
“According to Nash, yes.”
“This is assault!” Dorian said. “I’ll have your hide for this!”
“Sure,” I said. “My boss just got killed, your client is out to get me, and the refinery is about to blow. I’m really scared right now that you might sue me.”
Dorian folded his arms and regarded me evenly. “What are you going to do? Shoot me?”
“Probably not,” I said. “But Nash might.”
Dorian glanced at Nash in alarm.
Nash shrugged. “Don’t make me,” he said.
I held out my hand. “Give me your phone,” I told Dorian.
“And do it slowly,” Nash added.
Dorian grasped his phone with two fingers and gingerly handed it over. I pocketed it.
“Now,” I said, “turn around and walk that way.” I jerked my head in the opposite direction from which he had come.
Dorian put his hands in the air, turned around, and started walking down the hall.
“No,” Nash said. “Hands down. Make it look natural.”
Dorian dropped his hands. “Just so you know, you’re going the wrong way.”
“How do you know?” I asked. “You don’t even know where we’re taking you.”
Dorian sighed impatiently. “You want out, right? This way is just going to take you back to the other side of corporate.”
“And I should believe you, why?” I asked.
“Because I loved you, once,” Dorian said.
Once. Once upon a time. Once was the key word.
Even though I had known it was over with Dorian long ago, the way Dorian had intoned the word “once” had a ring of finality to it that had been lacking in all my previous communications with him this week. We had once shared so much, but no longer. And now I knew for certain that his pretended feelings for me had been nothing more than manipulation and legal games.
I didn’t know whether it was the direness of the situation or the knowledge that the Miller case was most likely finished for lack of a client that had prompted him to drop the “I still love you” act, but I didn’t really care. Even though it hurt my ego a little to hear it, I also felt a large measure of relief. At least now, I knew exactly what I was dealing with.
“Once has nothing to do with now,” I said.
“And you think I’m holding a grudge just because you left me handcuffed to Schaeffer’s desk overnight?”
“Noooooo,” I said, in a way that clearly meant ‘yes.’
Dorian reached the end of the hallway and stopped. “Which way?” he asked. “Right is out. Left is deeper in.”
“Left,” I said.
The refinery alarm chimed again.
Dorian sighed. “Look. You don’t get it. I want out of here just as bad as you two. This place is about to blow, and unlike you, I’m not wearing any protective gear.”
I had to admit, his argument made sense. I had no reason not to believe it.
I looked at Nash. He shrugged.
“Okay, fine,” I said. “Go right. No. Actually, take me to the storage tank area.”
“That’s to the right,” Dorian said, and began walking that way.
Nash leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Are you sure about this?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“It seems reasonable for him to also want to get out. The less time we spend in the hallways, the less likely we are to get caught. But you know him better than I do.”
“The question is, what are we going to do with him once we find the exit? We can’t just march him through the yard at gunpoint.”
I eyed Dorian nervously. He appeared to be nonchalantly strolling down the hall, but I knew he was straining to hear our every word.
“Did you get all that gear in a supply closet?” Nash asked.
I nodded.
“Were there respirators in there?”
I nodded again.
“If we can get him into a supply closet and stick a desk chair under