Beneath the Truth

by Meghan March

  Rhett’s eyes lit up. “That could be it too. I know the cartels have advanced tech, but something that could help them move more product over the border with fewer seizures would be of interest.”

  “You think so? It doesn’t explain why they’d blow up your parents’ house.”

  Rhett’s shoulders stiffened and his mouth pinched tight. He shook his head. “That doesn’t have any connection to you. My dad got involved with them somehow, and I don’t have the answers about why and how. But it started a long time ago, before my brother was killed. Just because there’s cartel involved on two different ends doesn’t mean it’s the same people or even related.”

  It seemed unlikely that there was no relation at all, but I wouldn’t push it because I’d been trying to find a correlation all afternoon and I’d come up empty. God, I hated this. Hated bringing up what I knew was incredibly painful for Rhett, especially because he didn’t have any more answers than I did.

  “Then what do we do? How do we handle this?” I asked.

  “First, we figure out how the security footage was wiped. Could someone else have been on the property at the same time as the guy who threatened you?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess.”

  “You have to realize that they have resources you can’t even imagine. If they’re able to get in here, they’re able to do just about any damn thing.”

  “So you don’t think Carver would’ve done it?”

  “I’m not saying that. I’m saying there’s more than one possibility, and we need to look at all of them.”

  “Occam’s razor says when you hear hoofbeats—”

  “Think horses, not zebras. Yeah, I know. But guess what, Red? The cartel is a zebra, not a horse. They don’t play by the rules of simple logic.”

  I let that sink in. “Okay, so throw out logic. How do we confirm it? I’m never going to feel safe with Carver around until I know he wasn’t involved.”

  Rhett was quiet for several long moments before his lips curved up in a smile. “We go old-school.”

  43

  Rhett

  All the information Ari relayed churned through my brain. I tried to put the pieces together as she got dressed so we could find answers.

  Her ex-boyfriend was a top cartel member, and even though I told her there couldn’t be any connection, something was eating at me. Maybe there was. It was possible.

  They’d been working their way into New Orleans for years, and the fact that they’d latched onto her was too convenient. If there was one thing I’d learned from all my years on the force, it was that coincidences did happen. You could go looking for meaning and connections, and all you’d find was lack of causation. Just because A and B happened around the same time didn’t mean they had jack shit to do with each other.

  I wasn’t going to drop the possibility until I had more information, though.

  But the last thing I wanted was Ari thinking there was a connection between her and what had happened to my dad. Those events were set into motion years before she’d ever met this guy.

  Years before I knew the cartel was in New Orleans. Years before I had any power to stop it.

  A little of my guilt evaporated with those realizations. My dad had hidden it from us all, had covered his tracks well. He didn’t want me to know there was anything going on, and he’d done a damn good job of it. If he’d been getting paid, I had no idea what he did with the money. My parents hadn’t lived a flashy life. The occasional new car and vacation was it.

  I’d tried to talk Ari into staying in the safe room, but she refused. As much as I wanted to lock her inside until I had an answer about Carver, I couldn’t. I would never try to put her in a box and expect her to stay there. Ari was her own boss and would always make her own choices.

  Which was why she followed me out to my Jeep, and I unearthed the crime-scene kit I rarely ever took out. I’d used it a few times for my PI cases. Fingerprint powder was messy and old-school, but it worked.

  Carver had finished washing the car and had his gun apart for cleaning on the coffee table in the garage lounge area. Obviously, the guy was bored out of his mind, which worked out perfectly for me.

  I pulled my pistol and turned it on him. No point in being subtle.

  “What the fuck?” His expression darkened and he reached for his empty holster.

  “You know about the guy who was here earlier? The one who threatened to kill Ari?”

  His eyes widened, shooting from me to Ari as she stood behind me, my backup pistol held loosely in her hand. “No. What the fuck? Why didn’t you tell me? Scream for help?”

  “I did yell, but the boat driving away drowned it out,” she replied.

  “But—”

  I interrupted because we didn’t have time for the question-and-answer game. “Security footage is missing for that span of time, Carver, and from what I understand from the boss here, this is a closed system, which means you could’ve been the one to erase it.”

  His eyes got even bigger. “I didn’t do shit. I swear it.”

  I lifted my shoulder, and his gaze shifted to the bag. “That’s what we’re going to find out when we fingerprint the keyboard.”

  “But my hands have been all over it. That’s not going to tell you anything.”

  Ari finally cut in. “Actually, that’s where you’re wrong. The series of commands necessary to disable the system or delete footage requires keys you have no reason to use under other circumstances.”

  Carver sat back on the couch and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s so damn comforting.”

  “It should be, because we might be able to exonerate you without any issue. All you gotta do is sit here and not move while I check. Ari will keep you company.” I looked at Ari, who hadn’t lifted her gun, but I felt confident she would if it were necessary. “Shoot him if he moves.”

  She nodded solemnly, and I glanced back to Carver. “She might not aim to kill, but she’ll wound. Her dad and brother taught her how to handle a gun, and she’s a damn good shot.”

  “Then do your thing. I’ll wait for your apology when you’re done.”

  “We’re just taking the only precautions that make sense, Carver. It’s not personal,” Ari said, her voice cool, calm, and collected. Yeah, my girl was a badass.

  I pressed my lips to her temple. “You good?”

  She nodded. “Yep. Do your thing. Remember what I told you.”

  I turned my back and headed to the security terminal with my kit. Ari had pulled a printout of Carver’s file she’d been given when she hired him, and now we were hopefully going to use it to rule him out.

  Ten minutes later, I had my answer.

  “So?” Carver asked as I walked back toward them.

  “You’re right—your fingerprints are all over that keyboard.” Ari shot me a look, so I spared them the dramatic pauses. “But F1 and F10, along with a whole hell of a lot of other keys, were smudged like someone used the keyboard with gloves on. Now, I’m not saying you didn’t do that, but I’ll give you ten seconds to explain why you weren’t watching the cameras when she was out in the open.”

  Carver tilted his head back, his eyes going to the ceiling for a beat before looking back at me and Ari. “Because I felt like a perv, okay? My job is to keep her safe, not stare at her while she sunbathes. The pool is fenced, and so are the outer edges of the property. I figured it was safe to give her an hour of privacy instead of feeling like a creep.”

  “Where were you?”

  “Walking the front perimeter.” He paused and added, “On the phone with my mom. I don’t expect you to take her word for it or mine, but you can ask her.”

  Ari lowered the gun. “I believe him.”

  I did too, but I was still calling his mom and checking his phone records. It took five minutes to prove that he was telling the truth. When I hung up with his mom, we told him what was going on.

  His first reaction? Anger. “FuckJesus fuckJesusFuck,” he shoute
d. “How can I protect her if she doesn’t tell me what the hell is going on? I’ve never let a threat get near a subject. Ever.”

  “First, don’t talk about me like I’m not here. Second . . .” Ari paused and flipped up her middle finger as number two. “I made a calculated decision to determine whether you were involved before informing you. Given the nature of the threat, it was the intelligent choice, regardless of what you have to say about it. I’m the boss. You work for me.”

  I couldn’t argue with her. It was the truth.

  Carver finally nodded. “Fine, but I need to make a report to the agency.”

  “No, this goes nowhere. Not yet. Call them and get files on more guys so we can bring in more help. Only people you know and trust. We’ll have them vetted ourselves as well, but you say nothing else.”

  Carver looked like he wanted to argue, but I didn’t care.

  “You got a problem with that?”

  “No. No problem. I’ll tell them the threat level has increased and additional security is needed. No one will question it.”

  “Good.” Then I looked at Ari. “Now we have to tell your brother.”

  44

  Ariel

  “He doesn’t need to know,” I argued. “This will get him all riled up for nothing.”

  My hands twisted the hem of my T-shirt because I really didn’t want to tell Heath any of this. My brother had always seen me as his head-in-the-clouds little sister who was better at being a geek than navigating real life. For the record, I was good at both, thank you very much.

  Rhett shot me a look. “Have you forgotten that your brother is a cop? He kept tabs on you in California. He knows about the employee who kidnapped you. He told me so himself.”

  Self-righteous anger swept through me like a firestorm. “Are you kidding? He told you that?”

  “Yeah. He did.”

  “Shouldn’t he have known who Carlos really was then if he was keeping such close tabs?”

  “How many layers of shit did you have to hack through to find out the truth?”

  Rhett’s question reminded me of just how carefully Carlos’s identity had been hidden. “A lot,” I mumbled.

  “And who else has the skills to uncover that information?”

  “No one he knows.”

  “So, all those times your brother warned you off Carlos, it was his gut talking, a gut that you should have listened to because he knows his shit. He’s got good instincts.”

  I didn’t have to come up with a response because Heath pulled up to the gate and Carver hit the button to let him in. We waited in the driveway in silence.

  Heath was out of his car and coming toward us in seconds. “What the hell is going on? I finally got Dad settled after they finished all the tests, and I thought you’d be able to come out and take a turn and sit with him.”

  Rhett held up a hand before Heath could rip into me like he clearly wanted to. “She locked herself in the safe room. There was a breach.”

  All color drained from Heath’s face, along with any remaining righteous indignation. “Tell me everything.”

  Rhett filled him in, and when he got to the part about Carlos’s real identity, Heath finally looked at me again.

  “Told you I never liked that fucker. He’s dead. Fucking dead.”

  Rhett stepped forward. “You’re gonna have to get in line.”

  “Stop. Both of you.” I pushed myself between them. “We need a plan. A solid one. I don’t know what to do. I’ve gotten us all into a big old mess, and I’d like to get us out in one piece.”

  Heath glanced at Carver. “You sure he’s solid?”

  Rhett nodded. “Yeah, and he’s getting a bigger team together to keep Ari safe. Now we need to figure out the offensive strategy. How do we take Carlos out so he backs off? You have connections in Cali, obviously.”

  Heath exhaled a long breath. “Yeah, I got a couple buddies with the Feds. No one knows who this guy is for real, otherwise there’d probably be a do not touch slapped over him, like so many of those other assholes we can’t take down without permission. But this guy, his ass is swinging. It might take me a couple days, but he’ll make a wrong move and I’ll have them bring him in. I don’t care if it’s a taillight out or a failure to yield. All they need is a legit reason to make contact, and then his ass is in for questioning.”

  Even though I’d grown up in the world of cops and their strategies, it didn’t make sense to me. “Why can’t they just go to his door and arrest him for threatening me?”

  Both men looked at me before Heath spoke.

  “We don’t want your name coming up in the questioning. You’re staying as far out of this as possible.”

  “But I’m already involved.”

  “Not anymore,” they replied in unison.

  “And you think this will work?”

  Heath and Rhett had a silent conversation I couldn’t interpret before Heath turned back to me.

  “Yeah. It’ll work. You lay low, and I’ll handle this my way. Rhett stays on you like white on rice. Don’t leave the compound. Get your extra security and make sure they’re solid. You stay safe inside the walls, and I’ll deal with what’s happening outside.”

  “And Dad?”

  Heath smiled. “I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry.”

  “You sure you’re okay with this, Rhett?” It seemed so out of character for him to agree to let someone else take the lead, but he squeezed my hand.

  “Keeping you safe is my number-one priority.” To Heath, he said, “We’ll be here. Keep us updated.”

  We said our good-byes and watched from the front steps as Heath drove out the gate.

  “So we’re on lockdown . . .”

  Rhett winked. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t suck.”

  I raised both eyebrows. “What if I want to?”

  45

  Rhett

  “Do you think this is the right decision?” Ari asked when we walked back in the house, all joking aside.

  I thought of how Heath had hugged her, shooting me a look while he did it.

  The look said, Don’t let anything happen to my baby sister, motherfucker. It was because of my respect for Heath and my need to keep Ari safe at all costs that I didn’t demand to be out there running down leads.

  I wasn’t used to letting someone else take charge. I was always the guy in the field, chasing the bad guys, finding the answers, and making shit happen. But with one decision, I found myself locked down. It should piss me off. Make me itchy. Make me want to get out of this house. Because not only did it limit my ability to help Ari, it pushed my own case to the back burner.

  But none of that mattered in comparison to her safety.

  I wouldn’t do it for anyone else, but it was becoming clear that I’d do anything for Ari. I thought about what I’d said to Mount in a moment of pissed-off frustration. I’d die for her.

  It was the truth. No second-guessing. No take-backs.

  Ari was good. She was smart and funny and sweet, and deserved the best life could offer her. She made me want to be a better man for her.

  “Rhett?”

  I pulled myself back into the conversation. “This isn’t how I normally work, but I can hang back and let you take point.”

  Ari’s bottom lip went sideways, and I knew from watching her that she was biting the inside of it. “You’re only saying that because you know if you were out there, I would be too.”

  I couldn’t lie to her. She was too smart, and it wouldn’t get me anywhere. Only barefaced honesty would.

  “If staying locked in this house with an army of security around us keeps you safe, then we’re staying here and not leaving until this is over.”

  Her lips settled into a flat line. “But what about your dad? Are you going to be able to figure out what happened to him without being out there and investigating in person?”

  I rounded the table to pull her into my arms.

  “We’ll attack it all from your domain and dig
for the information no one wants us to find. One way or another, we’re gonna take these motherfuckers down.”

  46

  Ariel

  The curtains were drawn and empty take-out containers littered the table. The scent of mint and cilantro hung in the air from the Thai food we’d just devoured. Part of me had expected Rhett to be the meat-and-potatoes guy I’d always thought he was, but he surprised me by suggesting Thai and then ordering like a pro.

  The surprises were refreshing. For years, I thought I knew everything there was to know about Rhett Hennessy, but it turned out there were so many more layers than I ever realized. The pedestal I’d put him on for all those years was firmly crushed when we started talking football and I realized he didn’t root for the Saints.

  “How can you be from New Orleans and not be a Saints fan?” My tone was aghast as Who Dat Nation ran in my blood.

  Rhett shrugged. “I grew up watching the Cowboys with my dad. His dad raised him on them too.”

  I shot up from the table. “I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.” I grabbed the take-out containers and whirled around to take them to the trash, playing up the moment.

  He followed me into the kitchen and trapped me against the island. “You need me to reintroduce myself? Because I’d be happy to.”

  “Is that right?”

  He stroked a finger down my chin. “Hey, beautiful. Couldn’t help but notice you eating dinner earlier. My name’s Rhett, and I’m the guy who’s taking you to bed tonight.”

  I leaned up on my toes and skimmed my lips along his jaw. “Lucky for you, I like a cocky guy.” With my free hand, I reached out and palmed his dick through his jeans. “And you seem to be plenty cocky.”

  Rhett groaned and buried his hand in my hair before covering my lips with his. His cock stiffened, and I reached for the button of his jeans.