by Roni Loren
Ren’s head snapped up at that. “Track him down? The hell you will. There’s no way I’m letting you go anywhere near that guy, even virtually. You’ve already paid enough of a price for this. If it’s him, he’d hurt you now, too. Because of me. He’ll have been watching. He’ll know you mean something to me.”
Something flickered in her gaze. “Ren . . .”
“No, I’m not going to let you put yourself at risk. Fuck that. Andre, don’t you dare let her go after this guy.”
Andre frowned and glanced at Cora.
“The police aren’t going to help you with this,” she said, a ferocity to her expression. “I can. And I know how to be careful. I’m not going to show up on his doorstep. I know how to cover my tracks.”
“Benning—” The word was a plea.
She stood. “I’m tired of people telling me what I can and can’t do. I’m good at this. And I’m not that fragile. I’m not incapable of protecting myself or being careful.”
“I didn’t say—”
She stepped around the table and stood in front of him, arms crossed. “Plus, in case you haven’t noticed, I might kind of care about you, too. And this whole thing could be kind of amazing if we have a chance.”
His chest squeezed tight.
“And I have no idea how y’all feel about me, but there it is. Cora unfiltered. So I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and let some psycho stalker with a God complex fuck up my chance to see where this goes with you two. I’ve had enough dating tragedies. Having the two guys I like end up in jail is not an option. Plus, if my ass was sitting in here, I’d expect you two to do everything you could to get me out. So don’t expect less from me. Got it?”
Andre’s eyebrows shot up behind her.
Ren stood, wishing he could reach out to her, pull her to him. He knew how much that must’ve cost her to lay her feelings out like that. But he couldn’t get past the idea of her going anywhere near Gordon. “Please. It’s not that I expect less of you. I’ll go nuts in here knowing you’re out there poking at Gordon. He’s dangerous. This just proves how much. I can get a private investigator again now that I know where to point him. I’ve already lost Hayes once. I just got him back and I’ve just found you. I can’t handle it if either of you end up hurt in all this, especially because of me.”
She leaned forward, cupped the back of his head, and kissed him. “You were a kid, Ren. This is not your fault. And if I can’t get enough on him, you can call your PI. But for right now, I’m all you’ve got. A pissed-off hacker girl.”
“And I’ll watch her back,” Andre added.
Cora peered over her shoulder, no doubt giving Andre a petulant look. “I’m not going in guns a-blazing, Medina.”
Andre shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to look out for you. Ren’s right. I don’t know who this guy is that you’re talking about. But if he’s capable of framing someone not just once but twice and drugging the police captain’s daughter, the guy’s fearless and on a mission. And he’s smart enough to have protected himself well for this long. You don’t know how far he’ll go.” He looked to Ren. “If he’s into hurting people Ren cares about, you fit the bill and could be next on the list.”
Ren’s jaw clenched. He wished he could grab Cora and drag her back to the cell with him. At least then he’d be assured she was safe.
But when she turned around, he could tell by the set of her stance that there was no chasing her off this hunt. She would do it whether he asked her to stop or not. So when she pulled a notepad out of her purse and sat down again, he answered her questions about Gordon.
And when she left, he let his head lower to the table and banged it there.
Andre’s hand landed on Ren’s shoulder. “I’m going to ask Grant if we can borrow some of his private security from The Ranch. I’ll put a detail on her and make sure someone is outside her house. She’ll never be out of sight.”
Ren looked up and let out a breath. “Thanks, man.”
Andre smiled, though it held no humor. “Of course. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.” He tilted his head. “Speaking of which, while I have you in handcuffs and locked in a room, what are your intentions with her?”
Ren frowned. “My intentions?”
Andre sat on the edge of the table, looking every bit the intimidating detective in his suit and tie. “I’ve known Cora since she was a teenager. She’s like the kid sister of the station. And I’ve known you and Hayes long enough to know that you two have always been one-and-done players at The Ranch. That’s your business. I’m not judging. But I saw how that woman just looked at you. She cares about the both of you enough to go on a crusade to clear your names. When Cora puts her heart into something, it’s all the way. She comes across as tough, and in a lot of ways, she is. But I’ve seen guys use her before. She’s been hurt. So if you’re planning to be one-and-done with her, tell her now. She deserves that.”
One-and-done? Moving on? That had always been the plan in the past. A little kink. A little fun. No big deal. This didn’t feel like no big deal.
Ren stared at him and then sighed. “Honestly, I have no idea where the hell my head is at. I’ve only known her for a few weeks. And I originally planned for it just to be some fun between friends. But she’s, I don’t know . . . She’s so . . . And last night . . . and . . . Fuck.”
Andre’s mouth curled into a smile and he patted Ren on the shoulder. “That’s all I needed to know, brother.”
“What?”
Andre shook his head, amusement in his eyes. “Come on, let’s get you back to your cell before my boss finds out I’m breaking ten kinds of protocol. I’d like to keep my job.”
Ren stood. “Why’d you do this, then?”
He walked Ren to the door. “Because your girlfriend is damn persuasive.”
My girlfriend.
For the first time in his life, he didn’t want to run at the sound of that.
It sounded . . . right.
But now he was going to have to go back to a cage and pull his hair out while his girlfriend went after the man who had tried to tear his life apart.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Cora stood at the bottom of the staircase of the apartment complex, her feet feeling like lead. She’d been to this apartment countless times. Had jogged up those stairs many a late night. But now dread sat heavy on her chest. God, she didn’t want to ask for help.
This was her best option, though. She’d done all she could at the police station, breaking more laws than she’d ever admit to. But she’d gotten into the system and found the number the anonymous tip had come from. Unfortunately, it’d been an inside line from the bar. The guy was careful. But not careful enough. The photo he’d emailed to the station had come from a cell phone. And that cell phone was registered to G.D.T. Entertainment, a company that owned a few strip clubs around Texas and Louisiana. The owner: Gordon Davis Teller.
So Cora had their guy. But the problem was she had nothing on him. Her mother and the police would need hard evidence to do anything about it or even take her seriously. And it wasn’t like she could just go to one of the clubs and start asking questions. If Gordon was following Hayes and Ren closely, he knew who Cora was. So she had to rely on what she knew how to do. Or more important in this case, who she knew.
Unfortunately, who she knew was exactly why she didn’t want to be here.
She glanced over at the car that had tailed her—compliments of Andre Medina. The guy had turned off his lights, and the nondescript Ford was tucked away in the dark parking lot, but she still felt like it was glaringly obvious. And really, the last thing she needed here was backup. The only thing in danger right now was her ego.
With a sigh, Cora trudged up the stairs. She knew he was here. His Toyota was sitting in its usual spot and she’d texted him to let him know she needed to talk to him. But it still t
ook him a while to come to the door after she knocked.
The door swung open and Kevin’s lanky form appeared in the flashing TV light coming from inside. He braced a hand on the doorjamb and gave her a lopsided smile. “Well, hey, stranger. I was starting to wonder if you’d ever stop by again.”
She let her eyes travel over him with a quick sweep. He hadn’t changed in the months since she’d seen him. He’d always been cute in that floppy-haired, California boy kind of way. But she found the sight did zero for her now. “Can I come in?”
He slid his arm up the doorjamb and made room for her to step under. “Mi casa es su casa.”
She ducked under his arm, annoyed that he didn’t just step out of the damn way, and went inside. Some superhero movie was on the TV and there was a pizza box on the coffee table. “Sorry to interrupt the Marvel marathon.”
The door shut behind her. “No worries. It’s nice to see you. You’re looking . . . good.”
There was a flirty undercurrent in his words, and she barely resisted the urge to spin around and punch him in the throat. Did the guy actually think she’d show up out of the blue for a booty call? Probably. She turned and pasted a tight smile on her face. “I look like shit. I got roofied last night and woke up in a hospital.”
He grimaced. “Shit, Cora.”
“Yeah, fun times.”
He ran a hand over the back of his head, looking genuinely disturbed. “You okay? Did anything—”
“Nothing happened. Thank God.” Some of the starch went out of her shoulders at his genuine show of concern. The guy had been a shitty non-boyfriend, but he wasn’t a shitty person. She would focus on that. “I need your help with something. I know who did this to me but I need evidence.”
His eyebrows lifted. “You’re coming to me for help?”
Okay, so maybe she’d always made a point to be better at him on most things at work. She had been better at her job at Braecom. But that’s because Kevin did his day job for the money. His passion was the gray-area stuff. He liked breaking in where others had failed. He liked to prove he could. His specialty? iThings.
She pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket. “I’ve got the asshole’s phone number and the email he uses for his mobile account. This is bigger than what happened to me. The guy’s a seriously bad dude. So I need to get in and see if I can get any dirt on him.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
“Do you still have that malware you used to get into Carol’s ex’s phone?”
Last year, one of the assistants at Braecom had been threatened by her boyfriend. He’d been holding naked pics of her hostage. Cora and Kevin had tried to get into his system to help, but the only way they’d been able to get into his cloud was via his text messaging system with malware Kevin had developed. They’d deleted the stolen photos and put a few bugs in his phone just for kicks.
Kevin tucked his hands in his back pockets and frowned. “Shit, Cora. I haven’t used that in over a year. You know how many security patches they’ve had since then? Unless his phone’s been jailbroken, it’s going to be next to impossible. They have companies offering million-dollar prizes for people who can develop that kind of remote hack. Even the FBI took forever to get into that terrorist’s phone. I’m good, but I’m not that good.”
“Can we at least try and see if it’s jailbroken? He thinks he’s above the law, maybe that translates to his phone. If I can get into his cloud, I know I’ll find something. This guy’s hands are in too many things. He’s got to mess up somewhere.”
Kevin sighed. “Well, what have we got to lose, right? You know I love a challenge.”
She cocked a brow. “I’m not sure I know that.”
“I dated you, didn’t I? No one’s more challenging than you.”
She crossed her arms. She hadn’t come here for this. She didn’t have time for it, but she couldn’t help the words from coming out. “Oh, no. I distinctly remember we weren’t dating. We were FWB. Or as you so quaintly referred to me—a bro with a vagina.”
He frowned. “I meant that as a joke and a compliment. All I meant was that you’re a cool chick to hang out with. I didn’t have to put on a show with you. We could just be. We were chill.”
“No, I was convenient and put out and that worked for you. Let’s just call a spade a spade.”
He stared at her, taken aback. “Are you serious right now? You put out, but so did I. That’s what we did for each other. Don’t pretend you wanted more or make it sound like I was using you. If you had thought of me as your boyfriend, you would’ve let me in—at least a little. You never trusted me like that. I found out from someone else that when you took off for a few days, it was because your grandfather had died. You didn’t even look to me to help you through that.”
She sniffed. “Like you would’ve wanted me to cry all over you for days.”
He held out his hands. “I would’ve been there for you, Cora. I cared about you. But you always had the tough-girl thing going. You’re a Mac.”
“What?”
“You’re a closed system. You never let me see behind the curtains. Even when we slept together, you kept that wall up. I wasn’t invited past a certain point. So don’t pretend you ever wanted a real relationship with me. You closed that door before I could ever try to open it.”
She frowned.
“Both of us stuck around all those years with each other for the same reasons. It was easy. We got along well, the sex was decent, and it saved us both from dealing with the drama of the dating world. We were both guilty of the same crime.”
The words weren’t what she expected, but she couldn’t muster up a good argument against them. She thought back to all the time she’d spent with Kevin. It had always been about activities. Hanging out. Playing video games. Watching movies. Sex. She couldn’t think of one time that they’d had a heart-to-heart. Hell, she’d told Ren more on that first night at the taco shop about her past than Kevin knew after three years. “Oh.”
Kevin smirked and shrugged. “You just weren’t that into me. A major personality flaw, by the way. Because I’m freaking adorable. That’s what my eighty-year-old neighbor tells me every morning, and she’s very wise.”
She snorted. “No way Mrs. Meyerson says freaking.”
“You’re right. She goes full f-bomb but I was trying to be attuned to your delicate sensibilities.”
Cora laughed. And in that moment, she remembered why everything had started with Kevin in the first place. She liked him. She’d just labeled it wrong. She hadn’t known the difference at the time between a friendship connection and more. Now that she’d met Hayes and Ren, she knew what gut-level, bone-deep attraction felt like, that need to be with someone, to open up to them and show them the real you. She’d never had that with Kevin. But she’d had this. That comfortable vibe, easy humor.
“I can’t believe you just called me a Mac. You’re such a dork,” she said, some of the tension draining out of her.
“One of my best qualities. Which is why you’re here, right? To get a piece of my big, sexy-ass brain?”
She rolled her eyes. “How about your hot, dangerous malware?”
“Don’t talk dirty to me, C. I’ve been working long hours. And there’s no bro with a vagina in residence anymore.”
“I swear to God, if you ever utter that phrase out loud to anyone again, I’m going to nut punch you. Take it out of your vocabulary, Watkins.”
He lifted his hands, palms out. “Consider it deleted.” He tipped his head to the left. “Come on, I’ve moved all my good stuff into the office. Let’s see if we can take this asshole down.”
Cora nodded, switching back into mission mode. “Let’s do this.”
TWENTY-NINE
Ren had finally fallen into a fitful sleep at some point in the middle of the night. But early the next morning, a cop was call
ing his name. He rolled over, every muscle stiff, and shook the fog from his head. “What?”
“Your bail’s been posted. I need you to sign a few things and then you’re free to go.”
He sat up, relief moving through him. “Thank God. And Hayes?”
The cop shook her head. “The judge denied bail for him.”
Fuck. That meant they really did have some kind of solid evidence. Wrong evidence. But solid. “Once I’m out, can I visit him?”
“Only lawyers for now.”
He groaned. He didn’t want to think about Hayes behind bars for another minute much less another day or however long it took to figure this shit out. Being locked up had nearly broken Hayes the first time. A second time would kill him. Ren wasn’t going to let that happen.
He’d track Gordon down himself. Though the thought made his stomach turn. That old fear was permanently tattooed on his psyche—with Ren always being the helpless kid and Gordon being all-powerful. He knew that wasn’t the case anymore, but it was an impossible feeling to shake. For that brief moment when he’d thought he’d seen Gordon in the bar, the teeth of panic had snapped at him, his teen self surfacing. But he’d deal with it. No one was sending Hayes back to prison, especially not one of Ren’s mistakes.
Ren went through the procedure for getting released in near silence, his brain already formulating a plan, and got his stuff back. His phone, wallet, and his keys. He didn’t have his car, but his lawyer could give him a ride to the house.
“Where’s Jim?” Ren asked when he’d signed the last page.
“Who?” The cop looked up from stamping the document.
“My lawyer. The guy who posted my bail.”
He cocked his head toward the door. “He said he needed to take a call outside.”
“Great.”
Ren tucked his things in his pockets and headed to the front. He pushed open the door, more than a little thankful to see the morning sun, and squinted in the bright light, looking for his attorney. But there was no one outside except an older couple walking their dog across the street. He jogged down the steps of the station and scanned the area.