Delta_Ricochet

by Cristin Harber

  “They’re always turning.” But they were turning overtime right then and reminded her of the vague reference from Silvio that she didn’t understand. “If I’d heard that there was someone in the club double dipping, what would you think that meant?”

  Hawke’s eyebrows arched, and his chin jutted at the bank statements. “This shit.”

  “But not this.” She waved the financials away.

  “Double dipping?” He steepled his fingers. “Drugs? But, hell, we’re almost done with the drug game. I can’t think of anyone stupid enough to stretch that headache out another couple years.”

  “Not guns?” Lenora asked.

  He pursed his lips. “How do you double dip weapons? It would be a lot harder, more noticeable.”

  “True.”

  They sat together, lost in their own thoughts before she cleared her throat and gathered her purse. “All right, if Tex isn’t here, I’ve got to roll.”

  “Everything’s going to play out the way it’s going to. You know that, right?” Hawke pushed from his chair.

  “You mean, when your assholes kill Adelia, you don’t want me acting like a bitch.”

  “We have a code.”

  She stood and faked a grin. “Mayhem never forgets. I get it, though I’m walking out of here understanding less than I came in with.”

  “Welcome to my world.” He walked her to the door, hanging his hand on the frame. “Where you off to now?”

  “To visit an old client in federal lock-up.”

  He grimaced. “Fun. Anyone I know?”

  “You know everyone.”

  Hawke agreed with a low laugh. “Give them my best.”

  “Sure thing.” Though Hawke would take those words back if he had any idea she was headed to go sit down again with Mayhem’s first president and founder, one of the jerkiest jackasses she’d ever had the pleasure to take money from, Cullen Blackburn.

  Cullen had very few selling points other than the fact he was Seven’s father. But now that Hawke had shown him funny bank accounts and Silvio talked about double dippers, he might be the only asshole with enough vision to see what she was missing. Lenora’s only problem now would be getting him to talk.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Fifteen hours had passed since Colin left Titan Group’s headquarters and tracked Adelia to a small town diner twenty minutes outside of Baltimore’s city limits. When he was certain of her location, relief was a throat punch. Not the feeling he expected. Then again, he was going on zero sleep and didn’t imagine she would’ve moved from her initial location. Damn, it was fantastic to know she was okay.

  The popular but nondescript diner was exactly where Colin would have told her to go if she needed a few minutes to grab some grub, hit the head, and snag a cell phone from an old lady’s purse to make a phone call, then drop it back in without anyone noticing.

  Bacon and eggs sizzled and mixed with the clink of coffee cups as blue-haired Bettys talked about their suburban woes. Colin scanned the tables looking for Adelia. No one seemed out of place—except for a hoodie.

  “Hey there, darlin’.” The hostess walked up with a grin that reached her honest eyes, without any idea who he was or that a Mayhem-hunted target sat in the restaurant. “Table for one?”

  He gruffly shook his head, running a hand over the days-old scruff that had grown on his cheeks. “I think I see who I’m meeting.”

  “Sure enough, sugar. I’ll just follow you with a menu—”

  He waved her away. “Not needed.”

  He was only staying long enough to grab Adelia, settle her bill, and get her in his vehicle. How had she traveled here from Baltimore? Hitchhiked? Waved down a friendly group of bikers? Colin didn’t want to know.

  His relief-turned-worry morphed to frustration. If she had stayed put, he could have located her faster, fixed everything with Mayhem, and got back to HQ in time to join back on the Astor gig.

  But nope, he’d crisscrossed all over the damn city while Parker used statistical probabilities to track down Adelia, reminding him every few minutes that Titan Group couldn’t get involved with his problem as much as they might want to because Titan and Delta had an agreement with Mayhem.

  The agreement was bullshit, but it was also brokered by the US government, so there wasn’t much Colin could say about it. Mayhem had certain rights to commit their crimes, like selling weapons, so that parts of the government, like the CIA could monitor and control the flow of weapons.

  Colin had a problem with it to begin with, but now the agreement was screwing with his personal life, his reaction was far more emotional. Or, hell, maybe physical, because he was also going to give himself a headache if his jaw clenched any tighter. That this agreement left his girlfriend on the chopping block… Or, his friend that was a girl. Adelia. Whatever she was. The female friend he’d walked off his job for.

  He grumbled and threaded among the tables as startled eyes broke free from their conversations and wagging jaws hung mid-sentence. They likely hadn’t seen his type before—irked and tired, ready to get his woman out of harm’s way before some Mayhem asshole could blow her head to pieces and claim whatever prize they gave to motorcycle fucks. This room seemed more like the PTA meeting and garage sale crowd.

  His pulse skipped before her table. For that second, he hated she was hiding and scared, and he forgot that she’d been running, however she’d chosen to travel. Colin reached for her hood and tugged it down as he slid around the two-top table. “Boo.”

  Her dark hair fell loose around her neck, and those deep, soul-bending eyes widened for one heart-stealing second. “Colin?” Her gaze jolted behind him as if he might’ve issued a Harley-Davidson locater beam for her, and she yanked her hood back up, scowling. “Where were you?”

  “Wait. You’re pissed?” He sucked in his cheeks and caught the judgmental stare from the older ladies the next booth over. “Do you know how hard it was to find you?”

  “Then maybe you should’ve showed up before I called my brother.”

  Colin ran a hand over his face. “Give me a break.”

  “How far away is Baltimore from your office? An hour? A couple?”

  “Because I had nothing else going on,” he finally said.

  “I should’ve just asked Javier to help me—”

  “Maybe you should have.” How much did just walk away from? For this? “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You’re pissed I called Javier? I didn’t have your phone number memorized. I didn’t even have a phone!”

  “I’m pissed about all of that, Javier included.”

  “You have no right!” She leaned over the small table. “Don’t act like a jealous when I wanted you to help me. You!”

  “Adelia, how am I supposed to help you? You talk in code. Neither you nor Lenora will give me a straight answer about anything, and God knows how you got here from where I thought you were.”

  “You don’t want to know.” She buried her face in her hands. “I wish Javier was here.”

  Maybe he should’ve wished that too. It never occurred to him to send Javier. Not once did he want someone else to take that responsibility away from him, but hell if he’d tell her that. “Yeah, you should have just asked him.”

  “Lesson learned,” she whispered.

  He shook his head, dropping his head. “This was too easy.”

  “What was?”

  “You and me.” He picked his head up. “We started way too easy, and now you’re nuts.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and even as the words came out of his mouth, he regretted them. He didn’t meant that exactly like it sounded and didn’t want to hurt her—but that wasn’t the face of hurt.

  “I’m nuts? You’re pissed because I didn’t wait like a damsel-in-distress on the side of a road for you.” She wriggled her fingers and rolled her eyes. “Ohh, Colin.”

  He caught the reference to their first night and the hero-swooping assumptions he’d downplayed. “Cut it out.”

&nb
sp; “Oh, Colin. Save me. Help.”

  Heat crawled up his neck and a flush warmed his cheeks. “Adelia.”

  She pursed her lips. “You can’t stand it when things don’t go according to your plan, huh? Welcome to my life.”

  A protest tipped on his tongue—but she was almost right, and it pissed him off how close she’d come. Colin shook his head and leaned back. “You have no idea what it took to find you.”

  “You already said that.”

  His annoyance boiled on the edge, and her irritation didn’t help a damn bit. “I’m tired.”

  “So am I.”

  “Yeah? Maybe you shouldn’t do whatever with Mayhem. God.” He slapped the table. “Mayhem lives in la-la land, and out here in the real world, I’m going to lose my shot at a new job, hell, if not the respect of my command. And right now, I can’t do anything right, and I don’t know if this headache is worth it when you give me nothing.”

  Her bravado faltered, breaking her impenetrable bluster with the slight tremble of her bottom lip. “It’s not. I’m not.” She dug into her purse and threw bills on the table and lofted a small duffel bag over her shoulder. “I have to go.”

  “Like hell.” He snagged her wrist as she pulled away, and the dagger-tipped stares of the old ladies next to them were ice cold, but he didn’t care. His fingers tightened. “I’d like to come up with a plan.”

  Her jaw tensed as she pressed her lips together. He didn’t know if she was going to leap across the table and strangle him or just scream.

  “If you’re going to leave without me,” he said, “At least I’ll know where you are. That you’re safer than you have been.”

  “I’m not some a damsel that you can swoop in and just—” She snapped. “Fix everything. Because you understand nothing.”

  “You need a little help, and I don’t give two shits what label you want to put on that.” The angry, frustrated beat in his chest wound down until the dull roar of his heartbeat was only a reminder that he’d lived a charmed life, and Adelia had walked through hell more than once. “Breathe, baby.” He loosened his hold. “I came here to help.”

  She slipped back into her chair, waiting for him to sit, and then buried her knuckles into her eyes. Her exhaustion was well-hidden, and Colin could only imagine what her energy level felt like.

  Finally, she let her hands drop. “You only came because I called my brother.”

  He reached over the tossed dollar bills and threaded their fingers together. “You don’t believe that for a second.”

  “I might.”

  “Nah.” He squeezed her hand. “We should start this whole conversation over.”

  Adelia scowled though she squeezed her fingers, too. “You came in here like a jackass.”

  He laughed and choked down the list of reasons he felt well within in his rights. “Is that a no?”

  She lifted an eyebrow, trying to hang onto her scowl, but a small laugh pushed its way to freedom.

  He puckered his lips and bunched his brows, over-exaggerating but rubbing his thumb along her knuckles. “Or was that a yes? I can’t tell when you growl at me.”

  “It wasn’t a growl!” Her cheeks pinked, and her jaw-dropping laughter sweetened the air.

  The dull thump in his chest strengthened. If he could take her worries away, all might be better. “Man, your smile is gorgeous.”

  But to take away her problems and troubles, she’d have to let him into her world, and he couldn’t see why Adelia wanted to stay silent. To protect herself? Protect him? Or, maybe, protect the club that had brought her nothing but a death sentence.

  “Aw, thanks,” she finally said. “You’re lucky you’re one of those tough guys who is actually cute.”

  “I don’t know about cute, but I’ll take what I can.”

  “Now your turn.” She modeled a saccharine beauty they’d both see right through with fluttering eyelashes and a pose. “What am I?”

  “How about…” This wasn’t going to end well. “You’re a handful.”

  She laughed again. “Baby, that’s why you’ve got two hands.”

  “Ha. Good come back.” Any time he thought he had something on her, she came in and made him smile. “Come here.”

  He leaned across the table to kiss her. It should’ve been simple and quick. But nothing with them was ever that way.

  Her lips were sweet and the gentle brush against his mouth was brief, but long enough that he wanted time alone. “Now, I have another reason to get you out of here. More of that.”

  But her face fell. “They’re going to kill me.”

  He settled back, squaring his shoulders. “They won’t.”

  She ignored him. “And I don’t want you near that mess. Seven and Victoria don’t involve their husbands because there is nothing to say, but I’m different, and it’s a code, Colin. You can’t change their law.”

  Their code was nothing more than criminals protecting criminals, and she was caught in a spiderweb. “I can do a lot.”

  “Not with them.”

  “Jesus, Adelia.” He pushed his hand into his hair. “You won’t know unless you give me a chance. Will you?”

  A tiny crack of silence lingered, and he hoped that meant a moment of self-reflection. Their brainwashing was almost too much, but he couldn’t convince her of that.

  “Why are you going to lose your job?” she asked, catching him off guard. “Or another one?”

  Hell. He never should’ve let emotions run his mouth. “Nothing. Just a job I had to give up, but it’s nothing anyway.”

  “Obviously, it’s something.”

  He nodded, wishing to hell he’d kept his big mouth shut. “Yeah, but boring. Bodyguard detail for a billionaire. Nowhere I want to be.”

  “Sounds like super-secret stuff to me.”

  Colin pursed his lips. It wasn’t classified, though he shouldn’t talk about work. Still, knowing who their client was might even lift her spirits, and that went a long way in the field when a lack of sleep and doubt kicked in. He glanced at the table of snoopy listeners, but they were spoons-deep in their desserts, not coming up for air anytime soon. “Have you ever heard of Gloria Astor? I think most people have.”

  “Gloria Astor?”

  Adelia’s excited face wasn’t what he thought it would be, or maybe his assumptions were wrong. “She’s this rich lady who has always shared intel, and her ass is on the line now.”

  He paused and waited for Adelia to ooh and ahh, but her face paled.

  “What?” Colin glanced over his shoulder. “You okay?”

  Adelia’s fingertips locked on the edge of the table. “Who knows you found me?”

  “What?” He couldn’t wrap his mind around the panic in her voice.

  Her fingernails turned white and pink as she dug them onto the edge. “Who knows you’re looking for me?”

  His eyes roamed the restaurant’s perimeter, searching for what he’d missed. “All of Mayhem probably thinks I’m looking for you. Delta team. Parker helped me triangulate you, and—”

  She swept her purse and duffel bag into her arms and bolted.

  What the hell triggered that? Suspicious, he let his gaze cruise once more before he followed her to the sound the booth of women all tsk-tsk him.

  He stopped short, turning to the busybodies. “For the record, I didn’t do anything wrong. Ease up already.” Then he took off after Adelia.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Maybe Colin should’ve hauled ass after Adelia immediately and not stopped to drop his piece of advice, but he caught up quickly. The diner’s glass door slammed as fast as Adelia had thrown it open. Colin ignored the hostess’ pointed call to have a wonderful day and come again soon.

  What kind of suburban town had Adelia found, where a hostess asked him to have a lovely day as he chased after a woman. Part of Colin hoped that someone called the cops on him. It might restore his faith in humanity.

  Adelia hustled across the parking lot.

  “Would
you wait up?” he hollered. “You don’t even have a car!”

  He grabbed her shoulder, bringing them to a standstill, and she didn’t turn around. “I don’t need one. Remember?”

  “I get it. Being a sarcastic—” He wouldn’t say bitch, but man… “I am not them.”

  “What?”

  “Take off the armor.”

  Adelia whipped around. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You’ve got armor, babe. It’s there for a reason, and you’ve made it this far in life because you’re smart and have protected yourself.” He hated to imagine from what. “But think about the words flying out of your mouth. You’re defending yourself the same way you do with a gun.”

  “I’m trying to help you!” She took a swift step away from him, but he snagged her elbow. “Let go.”

  “Sure.” He didn’t and took a step closer. “As soon as you tell me why you jumped and ran like Mayhem traipsed in the backdoor.”

  “Because I only had one problem and now I have two!”

  Again with the coded language and vagueness. “Do you mind explaining what they are? Mayhem and…”

  “You!” She yanked her arm away, exasperated. “You are my second problem. Your office finding me when I don’t even know where I am! This place couldn’t be more random.”

  A car honked at them, and he tugged her to the side parking lot. She covered face with her hands, and he let her do or think over whatever she needed to.

  Slowly, she pulled her hands away. “It won’t make sense—”

  “It doesn’t now.”

  She bit her lip, tears welling. “I can’t explain it, because I don’t see how it would work. But it’s not just Mayhem who wants me dead, and you’re going to get me killed before I have done everything I need to.”

  This fight was like an endless loop, one of those songs kids tortured their teachers with in school. “I already said, I’ll work everything out with Mayhem on the back end.”

  She cackled quietly. “You have no idea.”

  “There’s that armor again.” Then again, him pointing it out like that wasn’t helping. “Can we sit down? My car’s over there.”