by Caisey Quinn
“Five Points Pizza is open,” he said as they loaded into the SUV. “You’ll love their stromboli. I’ll call Aiden to see if the guys at the station want something.”
“Sounds good. I would offer to share my stromboli with you, but you’d better get your own. My stomach is eating itself.”
Chase glanced over at her. This case really was taking its toll on everyone. Vivien was exhausted and skipping meals. He was back to not sleeping due to nightmares. Luke was never home, ever. Annalise’s eyes had been red rimmed and bloodshot from staring at her computer for hours on end, and Aiden was practically pulling double duty to train rookies and then work extra shifts to cover for the guys handling the zone sweeps.
He sighed loudly as they parked in the lot across from the pizza joint. “This case is kicking our ass. And I don’t get it. Lewis was a Marine but it’s pretty clear from his appearance and behavior that he’s been using. He didn’t look like he could make macaroni and cheese by himself, much less mastermind this whole thing while evading us.”
Vivien nodded. “I was thinking that too. He can’t be the only one pulling the strings. He’s a follower, a puppet. Easily bullied. Lives with Mommy still. I mean, come on.” She sighed. “I’ll feel a hell of a lot better when we find Edwards.”
Chase agreed and let it drop. They did their best to enjoy some semblance of a date in the crowded pizza joint; neither of them ordered alcohol as they were still technically on duty, but it was tempting. Chase felt his nerves snapping like rubber bands with each hour that passed without progress on the case.
He carried several large pizza boxes back to the station, hoping Annalise or the officers on Lewis’s trail would have something more for them to go on. The officers in the precinct were grateful and several guys handed over a few bucks to help cover the cost even though Chase hadn’t asked for it.
But even after the boxes were empty, and his shift was long over, all they knew was that a heavily publicized music festival was about to bring eighty thousand people exactly where a homicidal maniac wanted them.
Twenty-four
Annalise Gamble didn’t know what it was like to face down a criminal unless it was from behind the safety of a computer screen. Her brother and his friends had made sure of that.
But what they didn’t realize was that even working in Intelligence for the Nashville PD could be a dangerous job.
Annalise had spent weeks poking a bear, and as she booted up her computer at the beginning of her shift, the bear finally poked back. She watched in horror as a virus wiped her hard drive clean. Luckily she had an external backup drive that wasn’t currently plugged in so it wasn’t like she’d lost all of her hard work, but it meant that someone had intentionally sabotaged her. Someone who had access to her computer and a lot to lose.
She picked up the phone at her desk and dialed the IT department help line.
When a man answered, she gave him her name, badge number, employee ID number, and extension before detailing what had just happened. Once “Matthew,” who sounded approximately fourteen years old, had assured her it would be taken care of, she pulled out her backup laptop and plugged in her G-Drive.
She’d called in every favor she had, and some of those favors had turned up some very interesting information. She perused each file to see which one she thought whoever had erased her drive might’ve been interested in.
She’d compiled extensive information on Eric and Andrew Lewis, as well as Tobias Edwards. She was currently building files for a few of the guys Lewis and Edwards had served with in the military that may or may not have been involved in the reason he was discharged.
She scrolled through everything she had, praying for a sign, for something helpful to jump out at her. Perhaps she’d overlooked a key piece of information, a common denominator, something. Anything. But even after her vision began to blur from staring at the glow of the backlit screen, she still couldn’t determine what made Eric Lewis tick or pinpoint a single shred of evidence that could lead to his or Tobias Edwards’s arrest.
Hours later, after she’d put the French press Vivien had given her for her birthday to use multiple times, Matthew called with an update on what the scan of her computer had revealed. He’d discovered that the virus was one commonly sent in e-mail attachments via a Trojan horse. When he searched through her e-mails, he couldn’t find anything. It appeared as if the original e-mail had been deleted.
Just as she was about to pull up her e-mail account and attempt to retrieve recently deleted messages, Luke Foster entered the bull pen.
“Burning the midnight oil?”
She nodded. “Same as you, it seems.”
He cleared his throat. “Hope you’re having better luck than me. All of my leads are turning out to be dead ends.”
“Someone wiped my hard drive,” Annalise informed him, doing her best to avoid appreciating the way his hazel eyes sparkled even beneath the dull fluorescent lighting. Luke’s eyes matched his mood, and often his shirt. If he wore gray, they took on a silver tint. Same with blue and green. She wasn’t proud of how acutely aware she was of the many shades of Luke Foster. Or that seeing his shirtsleeves rolled up on his muscular forearms made her mouth water.
“What?” He came closer, glancing at her screen where her e-mail was displayed. “How is that even possible?”
“This is my backup computer with my external drive.” She gestured to the flat silver rectangular drive on the desk. “IT has my regular one. Apparently I got a virus from an e-mail attachment. Whoever sent it had to know their way around department antivirus security fail-safes. I was just about to scroll through to see which e-mails I’ve opened and deleted recently.”
He tucked both hands into his pockets, making him appear much younger than his twenty-seven years. “Need some help?”
Annalise bit her lip and glanced at her screen. An excuse to be close to him for the next hour or so was tempting, but there might or might not have been a few e-mails hidden in there between her and her college roommate mentioning things she wasn’t comfortable with him seeing. That’s what she got for using her work e-mail for personal use.
“Um, I think I’m okay. Thanks, though.”
She didn’t know whether she was imagining it, but he looked disappointed before he smiled and gave her a curt nod. “Okay. Well, I’m heading out. Don’t work too hard.”
She forced a bright smile in return. “Night, Luke,” she said softly.
His eyes lingered on hers for a long moment before he said, “Night, Annalise,” and headed out the door.
She closed her eyes and tried her best to re-center herself. But the Luke effect was the real deal. It always had been. Symptoms included shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and lack of brain-to-mouth function. Luke was gone, from the building and from her life in any capacity other than as her brother’s friend and roommate. But even the briefest of encounters left her world spinning off its axis. No matter how long she spent trying to talk herself down she knew the e-mails she was about to filter through would only be a blur for her for the rest of the evening.
Twenty-five
One day before the CMA Music Festival
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Vivien said as she finished up the phone call with her Director from DC. He’d agreed to sign off on and assist with her transfer to the resident agency office in Knoxville.
She couldn’t wait to tell Chase. After days of coming up with absolutely nothing on the Music City Bomber, with an insanely large music festival looming, they were both in desperate need of some good news.
She was working from his house today, where she’d been practically living since Chase’s truck was blown up. She was currently using her connections and Bureau resources to track down members of Eric Lewis’s unit when he was in the Marine Corps. Chase would be off around eight if everything went well and she’d already asked Aiden’s and Luke’s perm
ission to have the house to themselves for a few hours. They were both working and told her to have at it. She had her sexiest lingerie on beneath her skinny jeans and loose button-down. A pitcher of homemade margarita was chilling in the fridge. Aiden had given her a recipe for chicken enchiladas that Chase really enjoyed, and Luke had only requested that she save him some leftovers.
She was so busy trying to figure out what Lewis’s next move would be, she nearly sliced a finger off while cutting the green chilies.
Taking a moment to compose herself and to focus on the task at hand before losing an appendage, she pulled the pan with the roasted tomatillos out of the oven and added them and the chilies to a pot on the stove. She checked the recipe Aiden had texted her a few more times before moving to the next steps.
One of the ingredients was a small can of tomato sauce that Aiden said would be in the pantry. She opened it up and came face-to-face with a case of Red Bull, more beef jerky than anyone could ever need, several bags of chips, and stacked cans of sauces and soups.
Something tugged in the back of her mind at the sight of the soup. But she had enchiladas to assemble and get into the oven so she grabbed a bag of tortilla chips and the tomato sauce before returning to her recipe.
Once she had chopped, sliced, roasted, and simmered everything necessary, the sauce that Aiden swore by was finished. She warmed the tortillas on the stove as he’d instructed before filling them.
Once they were rolled, she placed them seam side down in the baking dish and covered them with the roasted tomatillo sauce and some shredded Monterey Jack. After covering the entire thing with foil, she placed it in the preheated oven and patted herself on the back. Cooking anything other than oatmeal or spaghetti wasn’t really her thing but Aiden’s instructions had been simple and clear. She’d even taken his advice and thrown together a quick homemade salsa in the food processor using stewed tomatoes, jalapeños, onions, fresh lime juice, garlic, and cilantro. She couldn’t wait to taste what she’d made and hoped Chase would appreciate her efforts even if she’d royally screwed up somehow.
As she cleaned up the mess cooking the meal had created, she made a mental note to buy Aiden a thank-you beer or two next time they were all out together. Probably once the Music City Bomber situation was under control. God, she hoped that was soon.
While the oven did its magic, Vivien decided to take one matter in her own hands. She texted both Annalise and Luke and told them she would fix a doggie bag of leftovers for them to enjoy at work that evening since she’d basically commandeered the house.
Moments later, Luke sent a thumbs-up emoji.
And then her phone rang.
“Hi! Did you get my text?”
Annalise Gamble sighed on the other end. “Yes, and I know what you’re doing. But trust me, it won’t work.”
Vivien did her best to sound innocent of any scheming. “Bringing you leftovers is not nefarious plotting, Gamble.”
“But specifically bringing dinner for me and Luke to share is, Montgomery. I know a scam when I see one. You’re not the first one to try.”
Vivien scoffed. “Who beat me to it?”
She could practically hear her friend rolling her eyes on the other end of the line. “My brother.”
Well, that was a plot twist Vivien hadn’t seen coming. “Wait. I thought Aiden was the reason Luke hadn’t made a move?”
Annalise’s voice was rushed when she spoke again. “He is. It’s complicated. Aiden doesn’t know—oh, ugh. Hey, Officer Campbell is coming over to my desk to harass me. I have to go.”
Vivien’s head spun at the abrupt turn in the conversation. “Hold up. What do you mean ‘harass you’?”
An annoyed sigh came through the line and Vivien wasn’t sure if it was directed at Campbell or her prying self. “He’s been asking me out since he was at the academy with Luke and my brother. I’ve only come up with five thousand ways to say no, thank you over the years. Looks like I’m about to have to come up with number five thousand and one. I’ll call you later. Focus on the food and stop with the matchmaking.”
The line went dead and Vivien’s intuition prickled at the back of her scalp.
Campbell. Soup.
An impulsive officer who Luke gave a hard time for being kind of a jackass.
An officer who apparently had a crush on Annalise, who was clearly in love with Luke.
Campbell had basically assaulted Eric Lewis and then had saved him from confessing by rushing into announce that the man’s lawyer had arrived. A lawyer that didn’t seem to know who had requested and paid him on Lewis’s behalf. A lawyer Lewis himself hadn’t called because he hadn’t been allowed a phone call yet.
She had sworn to herself that dinner wasn’t going to include work talk, that she and Chase both needed a break from it all, but something wasn’t adding up. In fact, nothing was where Officer Campbell was involved. He hadn’t originally been assigned to the bomber case but he’d inserted himself into the investigation by replacing Ethan Meadows on the EOD team.
She was just about to do some digging on him when she heard the front door open.
“Viv?” Chase’s voice called through the living room.
“In here.”
He was in the gym clothes he’d worn to work out in after his shift, and she was surprised by how turned on the sight of him all sweaty made her.
“Hey, gorgeous. God am I glad to see you. And it smells awesome in here.”
She grinned. “I’ve been slaving over a hot stove all day.”
Chase leaned in to kiss her on the lips before smacking her on the ass. “I fully approve of domesticated Vivien.”
She laughed against his lips. “Don’t get used to it. Might be a onetime deal if the food doesn’t turn out.”
“I’m too hungry to be picky,” Chase informed her. “I’m going to grab a quick shower, and I’ll be right down. Unless you want to join me.” He eyed the top two undone buttons on her shirt and hungry was an understatement for what he appeared to be feeling.
Vivien slapped his chest lightly with a dishtowel. “Nuh-uh, Fisk. I worked too hard on this meal to get distracted and burn it now.”
He gave her a rare boyish grin that she knew he didn’t bestow on just anyone. “Fine. Guess I’ll go shower alone.”
She checked the timer over her shoulder. “Don’t take too long. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Chase kissed her deeply, pulling at her bottom lip in a way that made her seriously reconsider joining him in the shower. “I’m more concerned with dessert.”
She smiled into his kiss. “You always did love dessert.”
“Damn straight.”
After they disentangled themselves from the salacious embrace, she watched him head upstairs to shower. Even with the sexy banter, she could see that the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. Between Ethan Meadows, the note about her being in danger, and his own truck exploding before his very eyes, the Music City Bomber case had become very personal to him. Which was why she was hell-bent on making sure they solved it before any more damage was done.
Accusing a fellow officer of wrongdoing was a major issue; Vivien knew how seriously they all took the “thin blue line” concept. God forbid anyone break the blue code. They had each other’s back. Always. Even when they didn’t agree. No one liked the way Campbell had handled Lewis but even Chase was hesitant to officially report his behavior.
Once he came down from his shower, she made a concentrated effort to focus on discussing her line of thinking with him instead of giving in to the fact that he looked and smelled as edible as the food she’d prepared.
Chase listened attentively to her concerns and admitted to sharing a few of them.
“I’m not convinced he’s capable of bombing the whole damn city, but he’s certainly a loose cannon,” he said after finishing his first enchilada. “And his
treatment of Lewis has been erratic enough to raise some questions.”
“I guess that’s what I’m saying. I’m thinking that he’s involved somehow, or protecting his own interests and possibly impeding our investigation.” Vivien picked at the food. Frustration had her stomach too tied up in knots to enjoy it. That ticked her off even more.
“We definitely need to dig into it. We can have Annalise check out Campbell’s background to see if there’s anywhere he might’ve crossed paths with Lewis before. He’s definitely broken protocol several times when Lewis was involved. But then Luke’s mentioned Campbell having issues falling in line for a long time now.”
Vivien slumped back in her chair. “I don’t think my weird feelings about him are enough to justify an official investigation at this point. But I would feel much better if we at least looked into him.”
“I trust your instincts, babe. If you have a feeling he’s involved somehow, then he most likely is.” Chase frowned. “And I made a scene the day you returned. Practically everyone heard about it. He’s on the inside enough that he knew about us and could’ve told Lewis what to put in that note at the Ryman.”
Vivien nodded. “Or he could’ve put it there himself.”
Chase polished off his second enchilada and began clearing the table. “You cooked. I’ll clean. Then we’ll stop by the squad and talk to Annalise.”
Vivien smiled despite the foreboding sense of impending doom that clouded over every waking moment.
Maybe she was way off base and Campbell was just a hothead. But having some direction to move in felt a lot better than floundering.
Twenty-six
As he finished loading the dishwasher, Chase wondered who upstairs loved him enough to send Vivien into his life not once but twice. He supposed it had to be his mom pulling some strings, because he couldn’t remember a time since she’d died that he’d felt so loved.
The enchiladas Vivien had made were so good he’d struggled to leave enough leftovers for his roommates. It wasn’t just that she’d cooked for him, it was that she was excited about it, about watching him eat and enjoy something she’d spent her time making. He would love spending time with her just as much if they’d grabbed takeout or ordered pizza. But hearing her joke about the hard work involved and nearly losing a finger cutting chilies made him smile, made his heart expand in his chest. Without Vivien his life had been desolate, empty, and pointless. She was the sun in his life, the light that permeated through even the deepest, darkest cold.