Chapter Twenty-Three
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I vy paused typing with her right hand when Mr. Whiskers hopped up on her lap and automatically started rubbing under his chin. His rumbling purrs filled the home office she shared with Walker. “Hello, handsome.”
“Hi.”
She looked over her shoulder to find Walker standing in the doorway, the width of his shoulders almost filling it. The flannel button-down he wore hugged the muscular planes of his chest and shoulders, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his roped forearms.
Yummm... “Come to distract me?”
“Do I distract you?” He came toward her at an unhurried pace, blue eyes full of the quiet intensity that had first drawn her to him, and her pulse sped up in reflex. She was absolutely Pavlovian with him.
“You know you do.” Her engagement ring glinted on her left hand, poised on the keyboard.
He hadn’t pushed her more about setting a date, and she was glad because she was incredibly happy with the way things were and didn’t want to jinx it.
She wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was he.
They were in this together for the long haul, with or without a ceremony.
His deep chuckle against the side of her neck sent a delicious shiver through her. “Happy to hear that. What’re you working on?”
It was really damned hard to concentrate with him running his nose along the most sensitive spots on her neck. Which he knew. Walker had discovered and committed every single pleasure point on her body to memory within the first few weeks they’d been together and still used them to his advantage.
And if this situation with Cassie wasn’t so damned important, she’d abandon her computer and tackle him to the floor and have her way with him right here and now. “Unmasking Cassie’s stalker.”
“Hmm.” He kissed the side of her neck. Took mercy on her and moved up to her temple before studying the screen. “Find anything interesting?”
“Working on it. Or I was, until you came in.”
“Don’t let me stop you. Carry on.”
She didn’t usually like people watching her work. Even him. But Cassie was his employee, and he already knew everything related to what was happening. “Your smell is distracting me.”
“My smell? What do I smell like?”
“Edible.”
He made a low sound of approval and skimmed his fingertips down the other side of her neck. She squirmed slightly in her chair. The man was diabolical. “Stop that and let me do my thing.”
“I love watching you do your thing. It’s damned sexy.”
She smirked, appreciative that he recognized and admired her capabilities, tech and otherwise. Not that he’d seen all of them. There were certain ones she hoped never to have to use again, let alone in front of him.
Using the files she had just found, she accessed their court records, found the pertinent documents naming which prison both of the men had been sent to. From there it was simple enough to get the prison records.
“What exactly am I looking at?” Walker asked when she enlarged the document.
“Cassie gave me a list of possible suspects earlier. Two are in prison. Thought I’d save you and Ryder the trouble and see what I could find on my own. But maybe you should close your eyes for this part.”
“For plausible deniability?” he said dryly.
“Exactly.” They were very different, in personality, temperament, and life experiences. But they both had a strong need for justice. His background in intelligence meant he was no stranger to working in shades of gray. Though she took that to a whole other level.
“Okay, they’re closed.”
“Thank you.” She worked her magic, broke through several firewalls and a stubborn security measure on the federal penitentiary system. “They still closed?” she asked a few minutes later.
“Yeah. Been napping this whole time.”
She huffed out a laugh. “Liar. You’re on the edge of your seat, same as me.” She was so close to finding what she needed. Now that she was in, it was just a matter of entering the full legal names and dates of arrest and incarceration to find what she was looking for.
And then... “Well, shit.”
“What?”
Not what she’d expected.
“This guy.” She pointed to the name on screen. “He was at the top of Cassie’s list. She told me he’s still in prison. But he’s not.”
Walker planted a hand on the edge of the desk and leaned in over her shoulder, his face next to hers. “She should have been notified if he was released early.”
“Well, she wasn’t. And based on everything else that’s happened, I’m betting that wasn’t an accident or oversight.” Corrupt fuckers. Rotten all the way to the core, if this was true.
“Can you track him? See if he’s been anywhere near the area recently?”
“I’ll see what I can find.” One hundred percent in the zone now, she tuned Walker out of her awareness and methodically began chipping away at the usual things she used to begin a search. Credit card statements. Tax records. Last known address. Next of kin, and social media.
Walker stood motionless behind her the entire time, watching her work without a word. That was sexy too.
Okay, she hadn’t tuned him out as well as she’d thought.
“He’s been more careful than most,” she said after her initial search didn’t turn up anything.
“Hasn’t left any obvious tracks for me to follow.
No social media at all. Must be using cash because there’s no card activity either.
But then he shouldn’t have left obvious tracks, given that he’s a former cop. ” She preferred a challenge anyway.
“Keep digging.”
“Oh, I’ll still find him.” She had plenty more tricks up her sleeve. “But I’m going to try looking into the other one who went to prison as well. Might find a thread that way.”
After another hour, she finally found what she was looking for. “There he is.”
Walker leaned in again. He smelled like dark, spicy sin. “So he’s conveniently connected to the dead guy from this morning, who was also recently released from prison.”
“Yep. And I’m guessing Cassie wasn’t informed about that either.” She grabbed her phone, called her.
“Hi,” Cassie answered. “Thanks for the tip at the range, by the way. You were right. Have you started digging yet?”
“Yes, and I found some interesting things. But I have a question for you first.” She stared hard at the man’s image on screen, anger forming a hard ball in the pit of her stomach.
She loathed people who abused their position of power.
That went triple for those who were sworn to serve and protect others.
“Okay, shoot.”
“Who was Rob Quinn to you?”
A startled pause followed, and for a moment Ivy thought Cassie would try to sidestep. But then she answered, confirming what Ivy had already guessed.
“He was my ex.”
“Thought so.” She sent Cassie a screenshot of what she was looking at. “I’m afraid I’ve got bad news for you, Cass. He was released from prison more than a month ago.”