Chapter 25 Evie
We were already parked behind the Vault, engines cooling, the night settling around us like a cloak. I didn’t rush to get off, my hands brushing along Aiden’s back instead.
“Ready?” he asked, and flexed his jaw. “This isn’t for fun, Psycho. We’re here for answers.”
“Who says we can’t mix business and pleasure?”
He glanced back, his eyebrows raised. “Oh yeah? Should I? I guess I could handle adding some pleasure tonight. Maybe bring someone home with me. Would you mind riding with someone else later?”
A horrible mix of rage and jealousy surged through me.
I inhaled, his scent hitting me, and pressed forward, teeth sinking into the delicate skin of his neck.
He hissed, his body jolting and going rigid as I bit down more.
I expected him to push me away, but he leaned back, a curse escaping him followed by a sharp inhale.
He liked it.
And that was dangerous.
Because I liked it, too.
“Evie,” he finally yelled, trying to lean forward to break away from me. I let him go, swinging off the bike.
“Pretty,” I said. “Good luck finding a girl here tonight with that on your neck.”
“What the fuck, Evie?” He sat there, fingers brushing at the spot, jaw tight, clearly debating how much he wanted to throttle me versus laugh.
I ignored him and swung off the bike, waving my hand with a grin in his direction as I headed right for the door.
Shaking off our conversation, I walked into the Vault with one thing in mind.
Find Anderson.
No one else here knew—maybe besides Aiden and Asher—that I was starting to suspect Anderson could be coming after us due to me digging into Veritas.
One late night doomscroll had led me to an old Veritas article.
A local paper had decided to write about the interesting startup that was somehow making waves while doing little to nothing all those years ago.
The article had been buried, hidden far into the internet so no one would find it. No one but me.
In the article, Anderson had been referenced. There was no first name so I couldn’t confirm it was the same one, but I was starting to think the chances of it not being him were slim.
Lucky for me, it didn’t matter. We were here to find Anderson because of the strange timing of his name being brought up to Rook and the threats, so I didn’t have to explain myself to anyone.
I glanced behind me, Aiden not far away.
Maybe there was one person.
My focus turned back to the VIP section Asher kept in the corner. I had studied as many people as I could think of who may have had ties to bigger criminals, like Anderson.
I had come up with a long list of potentials and crossed it with people who were frequently out at the Vault or other clubs around town, then narrowed it down to fifteen.
One of them was standing directly in front of me, the center of attention in a mix of people and tables.
Kellan Barnes.
Younger than most of the higher-ups around here—hotter than them, too—and well known to like blonde girls who fell all over him.
I rolled my eyes, stepping up to the tall table next to his in the VIP section.
Aiden didn’t follow me, but I knew he wouldn’t go far. My eyes found him in the crowd and he gave one sharp nod—a silent agreement for me to go ahead.
I listened in as Kellan spoke, going on and on to the women surrounding him about his newest car.
It was the standard droning about himself, so much so he didn’t even worry when I brushed against him.
He glanced back, a cocky smile spreading across his face, and I gave him one to match, then turned to my table without a word.
There was a small pause in conversation, one more glance in my direction before he was back to the girls at his table, picking up his story exactly where he had left off.
Aiden looked over, probably wondering what disastrous thing I was doing now, his question satisfied when I flashed a phone in his direction that he would know wasn’t mine.
Mine had a cute little knife on the back to hold on to . . . this one was a boring wooden case belonging to the man behind me.
Aiden’s eyebrows jumped up, but he didn’t move. He was smart enough to let me work, knowing a strange phone in my hand could lead to good information.
I moved fast, sliding the phone into the slim black box nestled inside my purse. I’d been hoping for a chance to use it tonight. The new upgrade was supposed to crack passwords in seconds—if I hadn’t screwed anything up.
The box blinked once—soft blue light—and I held my breath. The screen on the phone flashed, went black, then lit up again, this time with a familiar logo and a thin progress bar crawling across the bottom.
It wasn’t supposed to do that—at least I didn’t think it should. I had created the program, but hadn’t used it on a stranger’s phone yet. Any little thing could throw it off and leave me with no way to get in it.
Thirty seconds felt like five minutes. I stared at the screen like it might judge me for failing. Then, with a soft click from the box and a barely there vibration, the lock screen disappeared.
“And I’m in,” I whispered, trying not to sound too pleased with myself. I started scrolling immediately, contacts, emails, texts—I would go through them all until Kellan started looking in my direction.
My heart raced as I clicked into the emails next—his contact list proving useless.
I went right to the search bar, typing in Anderson and waiting agonizing seconds as it loaded.
Three emails popped up and I opened the most recent.
It was short—only a time and location for a meeting. Nothing unusual, but then my eyes hit the bottom.
Jack Anderson.
I stared at the name, my heart thudding to the beat of the bass.
I did it.
We finally had it.
He wasn’t a ghost or a theory. We weren’t chasing an invisible threat anymore. We had a full name.
And now I knew exactly who to look for.
I would be able to hunt him down and find out exactly who he was, who he has been, and what he wants with us.
I pulled out my phone, snapping a picture of the screen before clicking into the other to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Excitement burst in my chest—I’d done it. I was the one who found his name, actually contributing to taking care of Anderson.
Aiden froze, his jaw tightening as he glanced past me. I felt Kellan before I saw him and slipped the phone behind me. He didn’t say a word, a slightly drunk smile tugging at his lips.
Just drunk enough I would be able to slip the phone back into his pocket.
One clumsy fall into his chest and a quick goodbye, the phone was in Kellan’s pocket and I was back at Aiden’s side.
“I found him,” I said, excitement making me feel like screaming it. “I got his name.”
Aiden gazed down at me, a glint of wonder sparking something that made warmth tingle across my skin.
“Of course you did, Psycho. Come on, let’s go talk about it with everyone.”
We made our way to the big table everyone was sprawled around in the corner of the Vault and I told the story as fast as I could.
“I can’t believe you figured this out.” Regan took a sip of my water as she leaned against Rook’s shoulder.
“Of course she did. Our girl is one step away from a detective,” Harper said.
I rolled my eyes. “I found the right person at the right time. It’s not like I’m out solving murders.”
“I feel like we really could solve a murder or two.” Harper grinned with a confident tilt of her head.
Hero snorted, covering his mouth like he might spit out his drink. “You couldn’t even if you tried.”
“I absolutely could.”
“Ten to one, I could solve it before you,” Hero said.
“And ten to one, I would have to be solving a murder you committed.”
“Tou-fucking-ché, Harper,” he grinned.
“Regardless of the murders, I was more focused on who is trying to kill us, not who has killed someone. I’m glad Jack Anderson is finally a real person who we can track down,” Rook added.
“Track down, torture, murder.” Hero shrugged. “All three, even. At least we can get the right guy.”
Jack Anderson.
The man behind the threats. Another power-hungry bastard I was starting to suspect was attempting to take Cameron Fletcher’s place, like it was some kind of throne worth bleeding for.
Veritas, the list with Cameron’s name, the threats, targeting us.
I was starting to think it was time to expect them all to be connected.
And honestly, we should have known there would be cultlike followers of people dying to follow in his footsteps.
I was already tapping away on my iPad, pulling up anything and everything I could find about Jack Anderson. The rest of the pack were walking around, asking anyone who would listen to give them more information about Jack.
Another hour ticked by before we gathered what we had and pieced it together.
From everything we’d found, he just got into town but is well known as a CEO.
He’s already trying to push drugs, which will make Asher more than interested.
And worst of all, no one knew enough about him yet to know how much of a real threat he could be.
Which almost left us right back at the beginning.
I leaned back, downing more of my water and resisting the urge to lean against Aiden, who had sat himself at my side.
My eyes wandered through the crowd, landing on one face I knew well.
Asher moved through the thick horde of people, heading right toward us.
It would be dumb not to admit Asher was hot.
It wasn’t even how handsome his face was, not only at least, but how easily he commanded the space around him.
Even if you didn’t know Asher personally, the predator and prey instincts kicked in and you knew not to piss him off.
“I see you have all decided to slum it here tonight. What’s going on?” he asked.
“A night out,” Hero said, leaning back without a care. “Apparently, we aren’t all work, no play.”
Asher looked down at me, searching my face, but I wasn’t sure what he thought he would find. “No? I’m pretty sure you are all the type to be working while you play.”