Hunted

by Sharon C. Cooper

  After relocking the box, Myles handed it back. “I need to go through all of that stuff.”

  “I’ll just leave it here.” He returned it to the top shelf of the closet. The plan was to leave everything as it was for when the cops searched the place. Whitney had a permit for the weapon; as long as it hadn’t been fired recently, it wouldn’t raise any red flags.

  Myles rubbed his tired eyes. Exhaustion was settling in. The last few days had been like scenes from a nightmare. But he couldn’t stop. He needed to go through as much as possible in case he didn’t get a chance to before the authorities reached out to him tomorrow.

  As he logged into her laptop that was sitting on the desk, he thought about what he knew so far. The last person to see Whitney alive was her client. Her brakes were tampered with, and she received a threatening note from an unknown enemy. Now they found out that someone had overridden the alarm system and bugged the house.

  The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if it really was one of her clients that had killed her. Tampering with brakes and hacking weren’t your everyday skills. Could someone else have targeted her? What if her murderer wasn’t a client at all? What if the client had hired a killer?

  Just stop, he told himself. He was going to drive himself nuts. He knew from experience that the answers would come. He just had to be ready for whatever he found.

  Myles spent the next hour going through computer files, specifically the client folders. When he was done with that, he reviewed Whitney’s internet browsing history. In the note app on his cell phone, he typed in a few search words and sites she had visited, then paused.

  Gunrunners.

  South Sudan.

  Arms trafficking.

  What the heck? Gunrunners? She promised not to take on any dangerous cases. Was one of her clients into arms trafficking? That subject alone could get a person killed.

  What the hell did you get yourself caught up in, Whitney?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Geneva ordered a car service to take her to Brookhaven, a suburb of Atlanta. She couldn’t wait to hang out with her girls. She was planning on having an early dinner with her sister and a few of the spouses of Atlanta’s Finest. Sure, she’d seen some of them the other day at London’s birthday party, but they hadn’t been able to talk freely with so many other guests present.

  The moment Geneva stepped into the eatery, known for its award-winning pizza, she inhaled deeply. The tantalizing scent of fresh-baked bread and herbs wafted past her nose and had her mouth watering in anticipation. She loved food, period. But pizza was absolutely her favorite meal.

  “Hi, just one for dinner?” the hostess asked and grabbed a menu.

  “Actually,” Geneva glanced behind the woman into the mostly full restaurant, “I’m meeting a few people who should be already…oh, wait, there they are.” She pointed to where Dakota waved her over.

  “Okay. Well, enjoy your meal,” the hostess said with a smile, and Geneva headed to the table.

  The restaurant was buzzing with conversation as she gracefully maneuvered around a few tables. When she walked near the long mahogany bar, a few heads turned in her direction. Geneva knew she looked good.

  Some might think she was arrogant or full of herself, but that wasn’t the case at all. She was just confident. Her style—sexy/chic—was always eye-catching, and rarely did she leave the house without being totally put together. This time, she had chosen a fitted beige sweater that revealed a bare shoulder, and she paired it with off-white pants and matching high-heeled ankle boots.

  As she neared the end of the bar, Geneva caught the attention of a man with pretty eyes, perfectly groomed facial hair, and he was nicely dressed. He was handsome and well put together in a CEO-kind of way.

  He had just lifted a glass of beer to his mouth but didn’t drink from it as they made eye contact. He smiled, and she did as well, acknowledging him with a nod. The man was definitely her type and had she still been single, she would’ve stopped to talk. Instead, she kept it moving.

  “You’re a trip,” Dakota said, laughing. She stood and greeted Geneva with a hug. “Got these men up in here drooling over your sexy ass.”

  Geneva shrugged. “What can I say? I can’t help it if I’m beautiful.”

  They both laughed, and Journey rolled her eyes. She pointed to the vacant chair next to her. “Just sit down. You always have to make an entrance,” she said with mock disgust. “Been like that since we were kids.”

  Geneva grinned and blew her sister a kiss. “Whatever. Where’s Egypt and Zenobia?” she asked, referring to Kenton and Angelo’s wife.

  “Egypt had to work late,” Journey explained. “She said she’d catch us next time.”

  Egypt was not only Kenton’s wife, but she was the heartbeat of Supreme Security. As the office manager and the assistant to Mason and Hamilton, she knew the business’s inner workings and practically ran the company single-handedly.

  “And Zenobia had some kind of gig tonight. For a person who claims to no longer be performing, she’s had back-to-back singing engagements over the last few weeks,” Dakota said.

  Zenobia—or as her fans called her, “Zen”—was a singing sensation whose career took off after her first album. Soon after, though, she realized she didn’t like the spotlight. When she and Angelo got married a few months ago, Zenobia vowed she was done with the limelight. Since then, she was mainly a songwriter for several famous singers.

  After the server took their drink and food orders, Geneva turned to Dakota. “So, how’s the mommy-to-be?”

  Her friend smiled and placed her hand on her barely-visible baby bump. As a dojo owner with a black belt in karate, the former stuntwoman was in incredible shape. No one would ever imagine that she was eighteen weeks pregnant.

  “All is well. I still can’t believe I’m pregnant again. Junior is barely fourteen months,” she said, excitement building in her voice. “I’m a little impatient for this little one to make her appearance.”

  Geneva and Journey gasped.

  “Oh, my God!”

  “You’re having a girl?”

  They said at the same time, squealing loud enough to cause people at nearby tables to look over. Geneva was thrilled for her friend, especially knowing she was having a girl.

  Their daughter would be Dakota and Hamilton’s second child together. They were also raising Hamilton’s twelve-year-old son. Time was going so fast. It seemed like only yesterday that Dakota almost died at the hands of someone who was after her father. That was how she first met Hamilton. He’d been assigned to protect her, and now, years later, they were happily married and growing their family.

  Conversation flowed easily between the women, and they acted as if they hadn’t seen each other in months instead of days. Geneva was close to all of the women of Atlanta’s Finest, but not as close as she was with Journey and Dakota. These ladies were her confidants, people she could talk to about anything, anytime. And the older she got, the more she appreciated the power of a sisterhood bond.

  Meeting up with them was exactly what Geneva needed to take her mind off of Myles. She hadn’t seen him since the morning after London’s party, and she was missing him, which was just crazy. She didn’t sit around waiting for guys to call. They sat around waiting for her. Yet, last night, that’s precisely what she’d done, then got angry at Myles when he didn’t call until a few hours ago.

  Geneva knew he had his hands full. He’d learned the night of the party that Whitney had been killed, which was shocking and awful. He sounded sure the murderer was someone affiliated with one of her clients, but the cops were still investigating. But Geneva knew Myles well enough to know that he was probably looking into the case himself. Meaning that would be even more time away from each other, and that pissed her off. In turn, her anger made her disappointed in herself.

  Journey often called her selfish, and Geneva usually ignored her, until lately. She could admit to being self-absorbed sometimes, and she reall
y wanted to change that about herself, especially knowing that Myles had a child. It wasn’t going to be easy for him to split his attention between her and Collin. She needed to come to grips that he had other obligations than just being with her. Besides, Collin was so precious. She had already fallen in love with him. He deserved as much of his father’s attention as possible. But still, what about her?

  After London’s party, Myles had dropped her, Collin, and Coco off at his loft while he spent much of the night at Whitney’s place going through her belongings. The next morning, he drove her and Coco home, and she hadn’t seen him since. Granted, it had only been twenty-four hours or so ago, but still, she missed the jerk.

  “Hey!” Journey snapped her fingers in front of Geneva’s face to get her attention.

  Geneva frowned. “What?”

  “I asked if you’ve heard anything else about your car or the salon.”

  “Oh.” Geneva glanced down at the table and hadn’t even realized the server had brought the spinach and artichoke appetizer that they’d ordered. She scooped a spoonful onto her small plate, along with pieces of the garlic toast.

  “The mechanic is still waiting for the car windows to come in. They had to be special ordered, and he’s thinking maybe another week or two. As for the salon, the cops haven’t given me any good news. They haven’t caught the guys. So Laz is reaching out to some of his old contacts.” And by old contacts, she knew he meant some of the confidential informants he used when he was a police detective.

  “If anyone can get answers, it’s my husband,” Journey said between bites.

  “I still think it was those delinquents from the other night. I just don’t have any proof,” Geneva said.

  She stopped talking when the server returned with the large barbecue chicken pizza. He set it on the stand in the center of the table.

  “Can I get you ladies anything else? Maybe something else to drink?” he asked.

  Geneva and Journey had barely touched their margaritas and echoed Dakota’s request that he bring them glasses of water.

  “As for the shop, after I pay the deductible, my insurance will cover the repairs,” Geneva continued as she placed a slice of pizza on her plate. “Myles thinks I should look for a new location for the salon. He wants me someplace safer. But I’m concerned that my clients won’t follow me.”

  “Girrl, do you know how hard it is to find a good hairstylist? Trust me, if you move, your clients will follow,” Dakota said and moaned when she bit into her pizza. “I know I will. As a matter of fact, I’ll probably be at your house in a few days for you to touch up my edges.”

  “Myles is right,” Journey said. “You’ve been talking about finding a bigger place. And it wouldn’t hurt to be somewhere safer considering the danger you’ve lived through. I hate that those punks tossed the Molotov, but maybe this was the push you needed to grow your business.”

  Geneva listened as they gave their opinions about going bigger and better. Dakota even gave suggestions on neighborhoods Geneva should consider. The more they discussed it, the more she seriously considered making a move to a new location.

  “Now, let’s go back to Myles,” Dakota said. “What did I miss? I knew you guys got busy in Journey’s guest bathroom after Kenton and Egypt’s wedding, but—”

  “Do not ever bring that up again,” Journey snapped at Dakota but was glaring at Geneva. “I still can’t believe she christened my bathroom with all of those people there.”

  “And I can’t believe y’all knew about that,” Geneva said, not embarrassed at all. “Besides, everyone was outside.”

  “Whatever. Next time you two come to my house, my bathrooms are off-limits. Heck, I might not even let you in the house.”

  Thinking about sex in the bathroom, Geneva recalled what she and Myles did at the party. Seems the girls didn’t know about that. She smiled, secretly pleased to keep that info to herself.

  “Are you and Myles officially dating?” Journey asked with a knowing smile. Clearly, she already knew, but Geneva confirmed it anyway.

  “It’s still new,” she said. “But it feels like I’ve known him forever. We’re as different as grapes and bananas, but we click. The idea of us together is wild, exciting, and a little scary all rolled into one. I never really thought about settling down, but lately, that’s all I’ve been thinking about.”

  “Finally,” Journey said. “It’s about time you found someone worthy of you. Someone who can make you forget about all other guys.”

  “Someone who completes you,” Dakota added. “When the right man comes along, you just know. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on Ham that he was the one for me.”

  “Yeah, you practically scared the man half to death chasing him down,” Journey said with a laugh. “Ham didn’t know if he was coming or going messing around with you.”

  Dakota shrugged with a Cheshire cat grin. “What can I say? Me and Gen have that in common. We always go after what we want.”

  Geneva smiled. That was true, except this time, she was out of her element. She didn’t know what the hell she was doing with Myles. More than anything, she didn’t want to mess this up.

  Geneva ran her finger down the stem of her glass as she listened to them talk about how great it was to be with that special someone. In her heart, that’s what Myles was to her, but the unknown made her uncomfortable. She didn’t know what she was doing when it came to being in a committed relationship. It was scary how strong her feelings were for Myles, but when they were together, everything seemed perfect.

  “I want to be with Myles more than anything, but he’s got a lot going on right now, and he has Collin. Which, by the way, I can’t believe neither of you told me about.”

  “I knew he had a son, but Myles doesn’t come around often,” Dakota said. “So, the few times I saw him at any of our gatherings, I never thought about his son. It’s not like he brought him around or talked about him and the child’s mother.”

  “Same here,” Journey said. “Laz mentioned once that he had a son, but he didn’t share any details about him. I didn’t even know how old Collin was or if Myles was in his life until the other day at London’s.”

  “You know those guys stick together,” Dakota added. “And they all know how private Myles is. It’s not like they go around discussing his personal business.”

  Geneva knew they were right. She wasn’t surprised that they hadn’t known details about Myles’s relationship with Collin or Whitney. He was the best person to tell a secret to because he would never share it.

  “Besides all of that,” Journey pointed her finger at Geneva, “I don’t know if I would’ve thought to mention Collin to you since you and Myles were just ‘hooking up.’ At first, I figured he was just like the other men you spent time with and then kick to the curb. It wasn’t until the last few weeks that I started thinking you had feelings for him, right before he took that trip to California. And it wasn’t just me who noticed. Laz had a feeling that Myles was more invested in you than he was letting on.”

  Geneva’s heart squeezed, and a warm, fuzzy feeling engulfed her knowing that Myles was as into her as she was into him. With him not being a big sharer, it was hard to tell at times. At least it had been until recently. Now she knew without a doubt that he was seriously interested in her. But now there was Collin.

  “I feel guilty always wanting to be in Myles’s face when I know his son needs him more than anything,” she said to her girls. “He’s his top priority, as he should be, but I’m not used to being second in anything. Yet, I want Collin to have as much time with his father as possible. What if I get in the way of that happening?”

  “The fact that you’re concerned about that little boy’s needs speaks volumes,” Journey said. “It means you’re growing up. Finally. But seriously, though, I think Myles and Collin are lucky to have you.”

  “Don’t overthink all of this, Gen,” Dakota added. “None of us knew what we were doing when we got into our relationships.
We just did what came naturally. Trust your instincts, follow your heart, and love on those two guys the best you can, especially now with all that’s going on.”

  Geneva nodded. All she could do was her best, and she was crazy about both Myles and Collin.

  Her cell phone rang, and she dug it from her purse and smiled when Myles’s name showed on the screen.

  “Well, we don’t have to ask who that is. She’s damn near drooling on her phone,” Dakota cracked.

  Geneva laughed and excused herself from the table. Suddenly, she was feeling more encouraged than she’d felt all day. She, Myles, and Collin were going to be fine. But thinking about what Dakota said, regarding her and Geneva always going after what they wanted, Geneva was about to make plans with her man.

  And I’m not taking no for an answer.

  *

  Myles disconnected the call from Geneva and smiled. The woman was funny without trying to be, and he loved it when she got all alpha on him. He had called to invite her out, maybe have a drink or a late dinner. At first, she didn’t give him a chance to ask anything. She had already decided when she answered the phone that they were getting together, whether he had the time or not. When she finally let him talk, he suggested they go play pool at a local bar.

  Typically, he wasn’t interested in aggressive women, but that trait on Geneva was sexy as hell. Everything about her made him want to know her even better. For years, he’d managed to stay clear of romantic attachments, and it had been relatively easy to do. At first, it was because he never wanted to get close enough to a woman and then lose her the way his father had. He’d been determined not to go down that road.

  Also, working for the CIA had made staying clear of relationships easy. He’d always feared that his dangerous job could possibly reach his personal life and the people he cared most about. But now that Geneva had come along, it was as if he had no control. His desire and need for her was impossible to ignore. It had been a long time, if ever, that a woman held his attention the way she did. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Yet, she had a way of making him look forward to every moment with her.