Chapter 16 #2
How could she have done this to me? How was she connected to the Warriors? An hour into my trip, those questions pounded my mind like nails being hammered into my skull.
How could I have let this happen? I knew better than to trust anyone. I fucking knew better. But damn if she hadn’t been a master manipulator. Damn if she hadn’t used me. Damn if I hadn’t let my cock lead the way.
She would give me answers. Either willingly, or I’d find them myself.
I swiped my phone and hit her name, the ring filling the truck’s cab.
“Hey.” Her voice was bright as she answered after the second ring. “I was hoping to hear from you today.”
I swallowed a huff. Yeah, I bet she was. Probably to gauge whether I’d found her out or not. But I wasn’t showing my hand yet and forced a steady voice. “My bed was too empty last night.”
“It better have been empty, Ace.”
God, that voice. There was affection there. Jealousy in that warning. She sounded like she would be heartbroken if I’d brought another woman home from the bar.
Was I wrong? Maybe she hadn’t touched my laptops. Maybe I’d immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion because trust didn’t come easy for me. Maybe she’d worked her way so easily into my life that I was terrified and finding every reason to shove her away.
Because she scared me.
This woman scared me to death. She had the power to break me, something I hadn’t given to anyone. Ever.
“What are you doing today?” she asked.
“Errands.”
“Yeah, me too. I need to get some groceries. The fridge is empty here. And I’m doing laundry. But I’m planning on staying in my sweats all day.”
“Exciting Saturday.”
“Yeah,” she muttered. “I’ve been thinking about next weekend. About your birthday party.”
“And?” I held my breath, waiting for whatever excuse was coming because I’d bet my left nut she’d never set foot in Clifton Forge again.
“And if the invitation still stands, I’d love to come and celebrate. Meet your friends.”
What. The. Fuck?
She wanted to come to my birthday party. Why? Because she wanted intel on my friends. Or because she was innocent.
Christ, what was happening?
“Yeah,” I managed to choke out as my mind raced. “That’d be great.”
“Good. I have the perfect gift in mind.”
I hummed. It was the only sound I could muster. My mind was reeling, my focus barely on the road as the truck flew across the pavement. “I’m just pulling up to the store,” I lied. “Better let you go.”
“Okay. Bye.”
The line went dead and I pinched the bridge of my nose. What was going on? A guilty woman would have bolted and never looked back. A guilty woman wouldn’t be coming to my birthday party.
Unless . . .
This was like being on a goddamn roller coaster, forced to go up and down and around and sideways. Nothing made sense. Nothing clicked.
Maybe the smart thing to do would be to turn around. Go home, examine my laptops again, and pull information on Nova. Information I should have pulled ages ago. But did I turn around? No. I kept on driving.
Because I wanted to see her face. I wanted to study her expression, her eyes, her mouth and see her for myself. Either I’d been blind to the lies. Or she was telling me the truth.
Regardless, I wasn’t leaving Missoula without her last name.
The long drive did nothing but set me on edge. By the time I pulled into Missoula, I had so much nervous energy racing through my veins that I forced myself to stop at a gas station. I parked, went inside to take a piss, then took a walk around the lot as the truck was filling with gas.
I was calmer, barely, when I got behind the wheel again, then checked the location service on Nova’s phone.
She was still in the same place. I punched it into the GPS and followed the directions through town toward a neighborhood filled with new condos and overpriced homes.
There was a place mid construction on Nova’s street.
I eased my truck in behind a white box trailer, using it as a shield.
Her condo was three down.
I waited. And I watched. The lights were on at her place. About thirty minutes into my surveillance her neighbor’s garage opened and a minivan backed out. A woman with a messy ponytail eased past me, reaching behind her to a toddler in the backseat.
It was quiet for another hour. My stomach began to rumble, I hadn’t eaten in hours, but I stayed in my seat. Stuck.
Knocking on her door was out. I didn’t want her to know how I’d found her. So I sat, regretting the impulse to drive here when I should have stayed home and done some damn research.
Leo texted twice, checking in. I texted a thumbs up but nothing more.
Then the upstairs light at Nova’s place turned off. A minute later, her garage door opened and there she was, backing the Nova onto the street.
She headed in the opposite direction, away from my truck. She was dressed in a black leather jacket. Her hair was curled and her lips were painted red.
“So much for those sweats, huh, baby?”
I waited until her taillights disappeared around the corner before starting the truck and following. There was no need to get close, not with the location tracker. I hung back, letting the Saturday evening traffic swallow me up as we maneuvered downtown.
I hadn’t spent a lot of time in Missoula. It was too far from Clifton Forge and I didn’t particularly like big towns anyway. I took note of the restaurants and shops and shopping mall, just to get my bearings.
Nova parked in front of an upscale restaurant. I was at a stoplight two blocks away when she opened the door and stepped out.
Definitely not in sweats. What I hadn’t been able to see earlier was that her jacket was cropped and beneath it was a tight black dress that hugged her hips and thighs. On her feet was a pair of sexy shoes I’d had on my bedroom floor more than once.
Anger surged because if she’d lied about her plans tonight, then what else had she lied about? Everything?
A young valet came over and she handed him her keys. Then she strutted to the restaurant as the kid climbed into the Nova and drove it away.
The light ahead turned green, but I hesitated long enough to earn a honk from the car behind me. I eased onto a side street, parking in the biggest spot I could find. Then I waited again.
I wanted to see who she was with tonight. In case they hadn’t arrived yet, I gave them thirty minutes before setting off down the sidewalk.
The streetlamps were on though the sky was bright with the oranges and pinks of the sunset. The evening air would have been cold if not for the rage keeping me warm.
My bootsteps pounded on the sidewalk as I made my way to the restaurant, stopping outside its floor-to-ceiling windows. They were crystal clear, allowing a view to the entire restaurant.
I spotted her instantly.
She was sitting beside a man too old and too thick in the middle. The windows gave me the perfect view of her laughing at something he said.
They sat together, the table’s corner the only thing separating them. The man’s back was to me but he put his hand over hers. She smiled at him and leaned in to brush a kiss to his cheek.
I saw red. The color of her lipstick. The color of the soles of her goddamn shoes.
She was on a fucking date.
My hands fisted at my sides. I let out a growl. She couldn’t have heard it but the sound might as well have been whispered in her ear. One minute she was smiling at her date, the next she was looking at me standing outside the restaurant.
That was when the color drained from her lying face.