Hunter (The Bang Shift Book 2)

by Mandy Harbin

  “Oh, fuck,” he breathed, clenching her hip, probably trying to still her so he wouldn’t come, but she was already dangling on that precipice, about to fly over the edge.

  “Hunter,” she said, and moved faster. White-hot ecstasy engulfed her just as he shouted, coming at the same time.

  With her.

  It was long moments later before either of them got their wits back. And when they were both back in reality, no weirdness came.

  He kissed her neck and guided her to the bathroom where he washed her body slowly and kissed her gently many times. It was a different kind of lovemaking.

  Because she loved him. God help her, she did.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Shit.” Oil leaked from under the Chevelle and almost hit Hunter in the eye. Fucking chrome pan. Next on the to-do list was to replace that sucker. He wiped his face and rolled from under the car.

  He’d spent all morning double-checking intel they’d gotten from the feds on Jake Oberman. He hadn’t been able to come up with any solid connection to Alonzo other than he was one of the man’s lackeys. That didn’t tell him squat. If he didn’t find something soon, Maya would be going back to Texas and his sister would be left to fend for herself.

  Now, instead of worrying about one woman, he feared for two. It wasn’t a feeling he was comfortable with at all, which was why he’d burned the midnight oil researching…then fueled working on the car with this morning’s coffee. Tinkering with American metal always helped him find his balance. He’d missed working on this car, especially.

  But he’d trade it all, never touch another car again, if it meant Maya and Heather would be okay.

  He wiped his hands as he stood, cleaning the grease out from under his nails. He checked the system on his wrist and noticed nothing had been tripped, though he’d have heard the alarms if something was wrong. He looked at the house monitors again and found Maya reading. He smiled at how serious she looked. She was probably studying. She spent her free time making sure she wasn’t behind in any of her classes.

  Because she’d have to go back to school.

  He threw the cloth down and cursed. He knew she’d have to go back, but something didn’t feel right. He didn’t know what it was, but it was there, eating away at him.

  “I knew I’d find a weakness in your system.”

  Hunter whirled. Gauge stood there, Bear and Brody to his right, holding the bypass box he’d told his team about. Brody had used it a few times, but usually, the other guys alerted him when they were coming over.

  “You could’ve knocked,” Hunter said, his gaze moving from Gauge to Bear to Brody. “What the fuck are you all doing here?” And why was Roc manning the garage alone?

  “We found the link,” Bear said, grim. “It’s bad.”

  Hunter wiped his hands on the bottom of his tank and crossed his arms. “What?” he asked, bracing himself. He glanced at the screen, but did a double take. Someone was moving in one of the rooms. He rushed to the monitor, ready to bolt out of the garage and into the house to save Maya, but he could identify that messy mop of black hair anywhere. “The fuck is Roc doing in my house?” He glared at Bear.

  “Sweeping.”

  “For bugs?” Hunter asked incredulously. “First of all, no one has gotten past me.” He pointed to Gauge. “Taking apart my hidden shit that even military-grade sensors couldn’t find doesn’t count.”

  “I’ll give you that,” Gauge said, not smiling.

  “And second, my system would detect a foreign surveillance apparatus.” He didn’t like Roc much anyway. The man would be the last Hunter would pick to rifle through his things.

  “That may be, but I want to be sure,” Bear said. “Because someone has gotten past you.”

  “Who?” he barked.

  “Maya.”

  Hunter blinked, not sure he’d heard correctly. “Come again?”

  “Dude,” Brody said as he walked toward Hunter. He didn’t like that look on his friend’s face. In fact, the air was already going thin. “We were looking for any connections between Maya Carmichael and Jake Oberman and between Oberman and Alonzo Rudolph.”

  “But we weren’t looking for any links directly between Rudolph and Maya,” Bear added.

  Hunter’s body grew cold. “Explain.”

  The garage door creaked, drawing all of their attention. Roc walked in, carrying torn pieces of paper.

  “When’s the last time you took out your trash?” Roc asked, nose wrinkled.

  “Did you find anything?” Bear asked, waving him in.

  “Negative. No tracking devices or anything like that. But I did find this note addressed to Maya in the bathroom trashcan. It reads, ‘You know what I want, criado.’”

  “What the hell?” Hunter said, shaking his head. That couldn’t be right. No way.

  “I thought it might be important, since she tore it up, but I couldn’t be sure. You know what it means?” Roc asked.

  All eyes were on Hunter, but all he could do was shake his head. “No fucking way.” But it wasn’t an answer.

  “What, man?” Brody asked, and grabbed his arm, trying to get his attention and failing. Hunter couldn’t look at him, at any of them. How could she know about that? There was no way. Unless…

  “You want proof that Rudolph and Oberman were connected. There’s your proof.” He pointed to the pieces of the letter. “Criado is what Rudolph called me. Oberman had to know that.” But why use the whole phrase like Alonzo always had? Hunter frowned, trying to piece the puzzle together.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Servant,” Roc said, and Hunter’s gaze flashed to him. “What?” Roc asked, defiant.

  “He’s right,” Hunter finally said, and began to pace. “It’s what Rudolph called me. I was his servant. He wanted me to follow orders without question.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Brody said. When Hunter faced him, he continued, “He could call all his people that, including Oberman. If Oberman is twisted, maybe he called Maya that, pretending it was something sweet. As far as she knows, it could be a term of endearment.”

  “He’s right,” Gauge said. “The note doesn’t prove anything, but this does.” He held up a sheet of paper.

  “What’s that?” Hunter asked, walking toward him.

  “Printout of bank activity. When Maya was eighteen, money was wired into her savings account from a small company that has been bought and sold many times. But if you follow the trail, they all lead to one of Alonzo Rudolph’s shell companies.”

  “So Rudolph paid her,” Roc said, sneering.

  “When she was old enough to be at college,” Gauge continued.

  “Which was when she met your sister,” Bear said.

  Hunter spun, fisting his hands. Did that mean—

  “Sorry, man,” Brody said. “Looks like Rudolph was after you all along and was going through your sister to get to you.”

  “Then why not do it sooner?” he asked, though he shouldn’t have had to. He knew Alonzo well enough to know the man wouldn’t strike until he’d cause the most damage. Like when he’d gotten Hunter to fall in love with a woman Alonzo controlled. He’d played right into that freak’s hands.

  And Maya had played him from the beginning.

  Jesus, he was going to be sick.

  “Heather,” he breathed, and practically leapt in front of Bear. “I have to get to her.” She wasn’t safe there, and she wouldn’t understand why. Hell, when he explained, she would probably defend her roommate’s actions with some crazy reason.

  Bear pulled out his phone. “I left a message for Blade earlier to check in. He hasn’t yet, but I’ll have them catch the first flight out.” When Blade didn’t answer, Bear left a message stating the three of them were to fly out as soon as possible.

  “Blade hasn’t checked in?” Brody said, frowning.

  “He won’t risk his cover,” Gauge said, waving him off.

  “Calm down,” Bear said. “He made his morning
call. I’ve heard from him every time he’s supposed to. Anna, too. I left a message after getting this new intel.”

  That wasn’t good enough. “No, wait a minute,” Hunter said. “What if something’s wrong. We wouldn’t know about it until it’s too late.” Screw that.

  Bear nodded his head. “I think you’re overreacting, but under the circumstances, I understand.” He looked at Roc. “Grow some wings, brother. Check in after you make contact.”

  “Oh hell no. If anybody’s going, it’s me,” Hunter said. And no way was it going to be Roc.

  “Can’t let you do that. If you’re the target, Rudolph could have his men lying in wait for you to show. Told you that before, and we’re still not chancing it.”

  Hunter looked to the side and opened his mouth to tell Roc to keep his hands to himself, but the man was already gone. “Fuck.” He raked his hand through his hair.

  “Need you to keep it together,” Bear said.

  Hunter glared at him.

  “How the hell am I supposed to do that, huh? My sister is in danger, and the woman I–I’ve been fucking has been lying to me, playing me.”

  “Told you to stay detached,” Bear gently chided.

  “Sorry, we can’t all have hearts made of ice,” Hunter spat. All sympathy faded from Bear’s face.

  “You don’t know shit about me,” Bear said, a whisper of warning.

  “Enough,” Brody said. “We all need to stay focused here.”

  Hunter wasn’t feeling it. He turned on Brody. “Yeah, well tell me how to do that, because I ain’t got any ideas.” His heart was breaking, shattering as he pretended it wasn’t really that bad.

  It was so much worse than bad.

  “You go back in there and act like everything is normal,” Bear said.

  “Fuck that,” Hunter roared. No way could he pretend to her face that she wasn’t some cold, conniving bitch who was out to ruin him, hurt his sister, tear apart his life. How he managed not to scream, he didn’t know, but when he spoke next, it was with a calm he sure as hell didn’t feel. “I’m going to talk to her. Confront her. Then I’ll call Flint and have her thrown in jail.”

  He marched toward the door.

  “Don’t call the cops,” Bear said. “Just keep her in the house.”

  “No promises.” He was done with those.

  Maya sighed as she glanced at the clock. She had re-read the same chapter three times now, but still didn’t understand it. She had a paper due on this book in a couple of weeks, so she didn’t have time to read the same material over and over.

  “You look frustrated,” Hunter said. She looked up, but the smile she’d already been forming dropped from her face. He stood at the door, his hair matted as if he’d been wearing a cap, or running his fingers through it repeatedly. He sounded fine, but his eyes? They were all wrong. Dark, hollow. Bleak. There was something else there she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

  Sitting up, she asked, “What’s going on?”

  He shut the door and walked toward her, carrying some papers. He sat on the couch with her, but at the other end. It was as if he didn’t want to sit near her.

  She swallowed and leaned toward him. “Hunter?

  When he looked at her, she was close enough to pinpoint that other emotion. Pain.

  He was hurting.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “We’ve been investigating Jake.” He shook his head, looking away from her and laughing humorously. “Jake.”

  “What did he do?” Oh god, was it bad? It had to be from the way Hunter looked. Did Jake break into her dorm room? Get to Heather?

  “Nothing,” Hunter breathed. Then he looked at her.

  For some reason, she wished he hadn’t. She fought the need to squirm in her seat. “I don’t understand.”

  “Let’s just cut the shit, and you tell me about that ten grand sitting in your savings account.”

  “What?” Maya balked. “What does that have to do with anything? And why are you looking into my account?” Her heart raced, blood pounding in her head.

  “I didn’t. The FBI did. They had their reasons, and they were obviously onto something.”

  He was almost too calm, staring at the papers in his hand. She looked closer and noticed on top were pieces of her note.

  The one left on her car.

  “You went through the trash?” she asked, standing slowly. How long had he known about it, and why did he have it now?

  He lifted the paper and tilted it, letting the torn remnants fall to the ground while he held onto the bottom sheet. “No. But one of my guys did.”

  Then more silence.

  He looked at her, pinning her with his gaze, and she shifted on her feet. “Look, I should’ve told you about the note being on my car, but it didn’t mean anything important. It was just Jake being a jerk.”

  Uh-oh. Hunter stood slowly, his mask of indifference turning to rage.

  “You think I give a shit about him?” he shouted. “He wasn’t the one who lied to me.” He stabbed his finger against his chest, and Maya took a step back. Maybe withholding the information could be considered a lie, in a roundabout way, but even that was taking it to the extreme.

  “If I’d thought it was important, I would have told you.”

  The skin between his brows wrinkled. “You think this is about the note.”

  It wasn’t a question, but she answered anyway. “Yeah. I mean, why else would you be mad at me?”

  “The. Money.” He tilted his head like a puppy. An enraged puppy. “How easy was it? To whore yourself out for ten grand? Gotta say, honey, you sold yourself short.”

  She gasped. What the hell was wrong with him? And why would he call her such a thing? He was being a freaking jerk! “How dare you talk to me like that.”

  “How dare I?” He stomped toward her. “How dare I?”

  “Yes. You asshole,” she screamed in his face.

  “That is fucking rich coming from you.” He turned, walked away from her, running his hand through his hair.

  One mystery solved. But not the important one. Her hands began to sweat and her eyes stung.

  He’d called her a whore. It was slowly sinking in. The man she loved had called her a whore. She blinked rapidly and bit her lip to keep from crying. She didn’t know what was going on with him, but she did not want to give him any ammunition. She took the quietest breath she could to calm her nerves and somehow managed to keep the tears at bay. When she knew she could talk without her voice breaking, she said, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”

  “You can’t even admit it, can you?” he asked without looking at her.

  “Admit what?”

  “That you played me. Played my sister.”

  She opened her mouth, but she was too shocked to form words.

  He turned around. “Yeah, I know. Alonzo Rudolph paid you off. But good job on pretending your ex-boyfriend was stalking you. Nice touch.”

  The pain she’d felt earlier immediately shifted to fury.

  “You think I had my car vandalized?”

  “Collateral damage.” He shrugged. “You probably have a brand new one waiting for you back home. A present for a job well done.” He winked at her, and it was a slice to the heart.

  He really believed she had something to do with this mess. That Jake was a fake. She was too stunned to respond. Part of her wanted to defend herself. To explain that the money was a graduation gift from her uncle.

  The other part, though, that part wanted to run, say screw you, and go back home, forget school.

  Forget everything.

  Hunter moved and her gaze darted to him. She watched as he pulled out a phone and called someone.

  He stared right at her as he put the phone to his ear.

  “I need you to pick her up for questioning. No, I can’t. You’ll have to do it. We’re still at my house. What?” he yelled. “No, I haven’t seen her. Maybe she’s out with Roxie. Yeah. Okay. Thanks, man.”r />
  He ended the call and pocketed the phone.

  “You’re not my problem anymore.”

  “I never was your problem,” she said, losing the battle with her tears.

  “No, apparently, you weren’t.”

  She blinked away the welling moisture.

  “Don’t,” he barked. “Don’t you fucking cry.”

  She sniffed in a deep breath and shrugged one shoulder because she couldn’t speak. She wished she wouldn’t cry way more than he probably hoped she wouldn’t.

  “I’m done falling for your lies,” he ground out. “You can tell the authorities and they can sort everything out.”

  “I never should’ve fallen in love with you.”

  His stone exterior cracked just a little. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, but nothing came out.

  A beeping sounded by the wall, and he shut his eyes slowly. When he walked toward the security panel, she covertly wiped her tears before he could witness that.

  He pressed a button. “Yeah?”

  “It’s Flint. I was down by the Pattersons’ farm when Gauge called. Said you needed me.”

  Hunter growled something before pushing some buttons and giving Flint the all clear. When he turned to face her, she erected her own walls around her heart and crossed her arms over her chest for added protection.

  “That my ride?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Yep,” he said just as snidely.

  “Good.” She couldn’t get away from this man soon enough.

  When a knock sounded, Hunter opened the door.

  “She’s all yours.”

  The bastard couldn’t even wait for the other man to enter all the way before he was ready to hand her off. To the police, no less. Wow. At least with Jake, she knew she was getting a control freak. Hunter just pretended to be nice. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

  She was so caught up in her sense of betrayal that she didn’t see the gun right away, and even then her brain was slow to process what was happening.

  The man at the door had a gun. He was a cop, though, right? He was supposed to have one. But why was it in his hand and not in a holster? Had there been a threat out there? She didn’t have a chance to ask.