Hot Stuff (Hot Zone 1)

Mara walked back into the office and flung her body into her chair with a weary sigh. Her brown hair, cut in an updated shag, gave her a sexy, with-it appearance that would make a splash in a New York bar. Add to that, she seemed to be genuinely nice, hadn't held the picnic against Annabelle-though she was giving Nick the cold shoulder-and was smart enough to run things in Vaughn's absence. Annabelle's instincts told her to trust Mara.

"Boy, I wouldn't want to be the guys on duty last night. Vaughn and Nick are ripping them to shreds." Mara shook her head and tossed a pencil across the desk, her frustration obvious.

"Who? The security guards?"

"Mmm-hmm. We hired a private firm with a stellar reputation. But apparently, the guard out front didn't see anything and the guy in the back perimeter slipped out to go to the bathroom without letting his partner know."

Annabelle winced. "I wonder if he'd done it before. If someone had been watching his routine, they could have counted on him disappearing."

"Well, regardless, the inspection's put off until the wires can be fixed," Vaughn said, joining them. Gone was any version of the man she'd been with earlier. Tension radiated from him in waves and anger vibrated just beneath his skin.

Nick followed him inside, looking just as pissed off.

"Who would want to prevent this place from opening?" Annabelle asked, glancing at Nick.

"Beats me." Vaughn shrugged. "I just gave the police a list of anyone and everyone in my life. Let's see what they come up with."

"Speaking of people in your life, you got a phone call," Mara said.

"Who?"

"Laura." Mara glanced at Annabelle. "His ex-wife," she said by way of explanation.

Vaughn visibly stiffened. "What the hell did she want?"

Mara shrugged. "How would I know? I'm merely hired help. She wanted to speak to you and seemed completely pissed that I wouldn't interrupt whatever you were doing."

"Nothing's more important than what Laura wants, when Laura wants it," Vaughn muttered.

Annabelle raised an interested eyebrow.

"I'll get back to her whenever." He grabbed the paper from Mara's hand and shoved it into his pocket. "I've got more important things to deal with."

Annabelle nodded. "You sure do. While the police are handling the detective work, we need to focus on damage control. I've put in a call to the local television affiliate and a reporter's on his way over."

Vaughn's glare turned icy. "Why would you want to broadcast problems?" he bit out, all his frustration and anger spewing at her.

Nick and Mara looked at Vaughn and Annabelle with interested stares.

"Would you like to take this somewhere private?" she asked Vaughn.

He waved away her offer. "What I'd like is for you to explain."

She shrugged. "You're someone used to being in the spotlight, so you ought to realize the police blotter will have spread this news in no time. Wouldn't you rather we put out our story first and in as positive a light as we can manage?"

Nick cleared his throat. "She's got a point, Vaughn."

"Kiss ass," Mara muttered under her breath. But not low enough to be ignored.

Since now wasn't the time to make love not war between these two, Annabelle continued before anyone else could comment. "What I'd like to do is focus on your commitment to kids and education in a summer camp environment. Acknowledge that, yes, we've had some difficulties and delays, but we'll do everything in our power to open on schedule. After all, it's for the children, which ought to appeal to the viewers' emotions and make them think twice about canceling."

While she thought, she bit down on the cap of her pen. "I could use a quote from you in there," she said, addressing Vaughn. "Something about why these kids mean so much to you. We'll give the public a positive to focus on."

"This whole thing isn't about me or my reasons for what I do."

She sighed, exasperated. She'd come here two days ago and accomplished nothing professionally during that time because Vaughn refused to take her advice.

She'd give it one more try and then she'd have no choice but to leave him to sink his own ship. Or in this case, his lodge. "Look, you're a celebrity. And if you want people to care about this place and stick with you, they can't think you're in it for purely selfish or monetary reasons. Otherwise they'll pull their reservations from here and head up to Killington or the Poconos or someplace else where they don't have to worry about whether or not their reservations will fall through. So it's up to you," she said, hands on her hip. "Do we do this my way or do I leave you on your own and head back to the city tonight?"