Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
When Demi is satisfied she’s gotten all the intel out of Liam, including what little he had on the person who contacted him about the sabotage, she calls Gabriel up to manage cleanup.
He sends in a team to discreetly deal with Liam, where Gabriel will inevitably work his own magic to ensure he doesn’t talk about what just happened.
“Good catch, ladies,” he says over the line hours later, my phone set on the desk between Demi and me. “What do you want to do next?” My favorite thing about working with Gabriel is the way he always trusts us to follow our instincts and never tries to tell us what to do.
“He isn’t our guy. He’s just an idiot who loves money,” I say, and Demi nods.
“I want to pull the banking info from everyone else who works on the circuit. See if there have been any other large deposits.”
“We should also pull Phil and Courtney’s to check if they have made any large withdrawals.”
“Do we need to add increased security to the trucks? Lana’s in particular?” Gabriel asks. Demi shakes her head before speaking.
“We have cameras and microphones in the trailers for transportation—that was an easy thing to add. But since everything has happened in the stadium, I want to get a few more devices in the arena. Maybe a microphone in each toolbox?”
“I think that’s a good idea. Do you have a lock on all of the kill switches and transmitters?
” he asks of the remote system each truck has as a safety measure to kill the engine if something goes awry.
The transmitter sends real-time info to the crew on the truck’s vitals, alerting them to anything wrong before it becomes an issue.
“I’m still working on that. I’m trying to use my access to the transmitter in Lana’s truck to determine how to access the others. I think I may have figured out a workaround this morning.”
“Sounds good. You two be sure to let me know if you need access to anything you can’t get on your own, and keep me posted. Demi, can we make sure there’s a full third-party inspection of Lana’s truck before each show?”
“I’ll start looking now,” Demi says.
“That’s really not—” I start, and my partner glares at me.
“You’re not getting hurt on my watch, Lana. That’s final,” Gabriel says with a firm voice, and I sigh. If there’s one thing about him, it’s that he ensures we’re always safe on the job.
“Fine,” I grumble.
“Great. Later, Mavens,” he says, then clicks off the line, never wasting time on niceties. I take in a deep breath, closing my eyes to try to sift through my thoughts. So much has happened in the last few hours, and it’s all leaving me feeling utterly scattered.
“So?” Demi asks. I let out my breath.
“I think checking banks is the obvious first step. We need to see if there’s anyone else who—”
“No, not the job,” she says, irritated. I look to her, confused. “Rome! How was Rome?” I had thought for a moment we were avoiding this topic, but I should have known better. This is Demi we’re talking about, after all.
“It’s probably going to scar but—”
“Oh my god, stop being intentionally obtuse. You know what I mean. Kissing. How is he at kissing?” The mere thought sends heat through me all over again, and Demi lets out a loud laugh, clearly catching my reaction.
“That good, huh?” I groan, putting my head into my hands.
“So fucking good. Oh, my god, Demi, it was so good.”
“I knew it! Thank god, because if a man with that much self-confidence were really a bad kisser, I would lose faith in humanity.” I purse my lips.
“I don’t think he’s actually as confident as he lets on,” I tell her. “I think it’s all a ruse to try and make people think he’s something he’s not.”
“Really?” I nod, then belatedly tell her what we talked about on top of the trailer and then today, before the kiss, about his history with Tyler and how he got suspended from Indy. As I do, a strange sense of unease tightens along my nerves.
I’ve never had an issue with sharing intel with Demi while on a mission, no matter how personal it is. It’s part of the job, after all—winning someone’s trust and then fitting that information into the story; you have to try to solve the problem.
But for some reason, it feels icky exploiting Roman like this. Rome, who seems to have trusted very few people in his career and opened up to even fewer.
But he’s opened up to me, and he’s starting to trust me.
“He’s letting you in,” Demi says, speaking aloud my thoughts, taking notes, and completely oblivious to my inner turmoil. “You need to keep it up. Keep getting close to him. Maybe he could tell you other things that have happened that haven’t been reported.”
“I don’t know…” I start, picking at my nails. “I feel weird about it.” Demi gives me a soft, understanding look.
“I know. I know, Lana. But wouldn’t you feel worse if something actually bad happened?
” This new thought clashes with my discomfort of not wanting to lie to him, creating a moral battle within my chest. “And it doesn’t have to be totally fake.
” I furrow my brows, not understanding. “Oh, come on, Lana. You’re so into him. ”
“What? No, I’m not.” She looks at me deadpan, rightfully not buying it for a second.
“If you weren’t into him, you wouldn’t have that guilty look on your face.
” I bite my lip at her correct assessment.
“But this case is stagnant. Plus, he’s technically still a suspect.
This could still be a way to make his dad feel guilty.
I mean, what better time to have a crash than with his dad in the stands?
” I don’t remind her that the last crash still negatively impacts him or that he didn’t even know his dad was coming tonight, because it sounds like more excuses even to my own ears.
“The truth is, we either need more info, or we have to wait for another attempted sabotage, and I might not catch the next one as quickly.” I know that to be the truth, something that churns in my stomach.
I sigh, knowing the right answer, but not loving it.
“Fine. I’ll try. But I won’t seek him out. If the opportunity presents itself to spend more time with him, I will. But I’m not going to play him more than I have to.”
“Totally fair,” Demi says with a grin. I let out a long breath, not entirely sure whether I want that opportunity to come.