Oh God. She leaned against the nearest wall and attempted to pull herself together. But how could she when Keith’s past had come back to bite her yet again? Not only did she have this dangerous man following her, he wanted something desperately. Something she had no idea how to find. And he was capable of extreme brutality when angered.
She choked back a sob.
“Maxie?”
“Lucas!” She threw herself into his arms, letting go with all the panic she’d been feeling.
“Maxie.” Lucas grasped her forearms and pulled her back. “What happened?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I was going to the ladies’ room, and this guy in a mask confronted me. I remember him. Keith used to represent him, and he recently got out of jail, where he served time for assault.”
Lucas ripped the mask off his face and dropped it to the floor. “How the hell did he find you here?”
“Apparently he’s been following me.” The words made her nauseous.
“What the fuck?” The words exploded from Lucas’ mouth.
She swallowed hard. “Keith had something that belongs to him, and he wants it back. He was the one who broke into the storage unit and my old apartment looking, but he didn’t find it. And trust me, this isn’t the kind of guy you want to cross.”
Lucas closed his eyes and visibly drew steadying breaths. “I cannot believe this. That dumb fucking son of a bitch,” he said of his brother.
“I know.” Maxie couldn’t help the wry smile that pulled at her lips. “Keith is the gift that keeps on giving,” she muttered.
Lucas choked back a laugh too.
She sobered quickly though. “Somehow I have to figure out where he would have hidden something small. It was a flash drive that has information that belongs to this Vincent Bernardi.”
“Wait. Vincent Bernardi.” He repeated the name and paused, obviously thinking hard.
“What is it? Do you know him?” she asked.
Lucas narrowed his gaze. “Last week I was at the gym, and a guy named Vinny Bernard cornered me. He tried to get friendly, asking questions about the area. He said he was new to town. But then he asked if I had a brother, and he started rambling about his. I got an uneasy vibe, and I left the gym. What does Bernardi look like?”
She swallowed hard. “He’s big. Unusually so. Black hair. But he was wearing a mask at first. After that it was dark. I can’t describe him well, but I’d recognize him again.”
“Well, big describes the guy I met too.” Lucas frowned. “The son of a bitch tried to get friendly with me. So he could get near my things so he could search? Or see if I gave up information about Keith?” He shook his head, unable to figure out the man’s end game.
Maxie only knew he wanted something he believed she had. “I have to tear the storage unit apart.” Her voice shook, and he pulled her against him.
“You aren’t alone. We’ll figure out what to do. One step at a time,” he reassured her.
And for the first time, she wasn’t in such a rush to go out and handle things all on her own.
* * *
While Maxie slept, Lucas held her close and stared up at the ceiling. His brother’s behavior defied description or logic. Every time Lucas thought he’d heard the worst, Keith sank lower. Anger swirled in his gut, but once again it was a useless feeling. There was nothing he could do to change the past, Keith’s behavior, or the fact that he was gone and Lucas couldn’t confront him. Nor could he maintain the level of anger and frustration boiling inside him while he was around Maxie.
Tomorrow he and Maxie would go through her storage locker with a fine-tooth comb. He’d also put security on Maxie and his parents. He didn’t trust that this Vincent Bernardi character wouldn’t go after his parents or break into their house looking for the media card. Lucas frowned as a thought crossed his mind.
Could Keith have somehow hidden the card in Lucas’ apartment? His brother hadn’t come up here often, but he had been here. And nobody had more flash drives lying around than Lucas.
He rolled over and quietly slipped out of bed, heading for the corner room, where he had his home office. He started going through his drawers, pulling out spare storage drives and slipping them into his laptop, running a quick check on the contents, one after another, coming up empty each time. He had old information of his own but nothing that didn’t belong to him.
He ran a hand through his hair and laughed at himself. What were the chances his brother would toss an important drive among Lucas’ things, where it could get thrown out? Slim to none, but he’d be negligent if he didn’t at least check. And Lucas had spare flash drives everywhere in his office.
Thirty minutes later, he had a pile of USB drives, and he hadn’t gotten anywhere in his search. But he still had to protect his family.
Grabbing his cell phone, he walked into the darkened living room. The only lights were the windows from other buildings across the way and New York City.