Chapter 9
Logan walked into the HERO Force conference room, the sun shining brightly outside the wide windows. He’d already searched the Internet for information on Gemma while he had his morning coffee, coming up with one vital piece she’d left out herself.
She wasn’t just a lawyer. She was a judge, just like Royce, though she worked in civil court, not criminal.
Noah and Austin were sitting with Cowboy and Hawk. “How was Dubai?” asked Logan.
“Kicked some ass. Took some names. The usual,” said Austin. “Noah took a bullet in the ass.”
“Grazed my ass, dickhead. A bullet grazed my ass.”
“That’s gonna leave a scar,” said Austin.
Jax walked in, slamming the door behind him.
Logan couldn’t help but notice he looked like shit.
“As you know, Justice Royce was kidnapped yesterday. I am making it our mission to personally locate him and assure his safety. The FBI is working the case, but I don’t trust them to get the job done as well as my own men. ”
Logan tapped his pen. “Maybe we can get them to cooperate with us, share information—”
Jax nodded curtly. “That would be nice. It would also be nice if I would sprout wings and shoot rainbows out of my ass, but that isn’t going to happen, either. Treat this like any other assignment. We bust our asses through any means necessary to find these motherfuckers and take them down.”
“Hawk,” said Cowboy. “You and Austin go to Royce’s house and do a complete search. Any documents, anything. Interview his children. See what you can find out about motive.”
Hawk’s arms crossed against his chest like a bouncer. “The FBI won’t appreciate the company.”
“Royce’s daughters are expecting you and will allow you into the house. If the feds don’t like it, amuse them with stories about your famous girlfriend.”
“Done.”
Cowboy turned to Noah. “You’re going with Jax and me to check on Stewart Cole, the plaintiff in the civil suit against us.”
“Civil suit?” asked Noah.
“Try to keep your ass out of the line of fire this time,” said Jax, ignoring Noah.
He withdrew a computer from a leather bag and pushed it toward Logan.
“This is Royce’s laptop. I want to know everything he knew.
Find out who’s sending the threatening emails and anything else that might have been going on.
It’s a knee-jerk reaction to think this is related to the HERO Force case and it might be, but it might be something else entirely. ”
“What HERO Force case?” asked Noah.
“The one where Cowboy and I are being accused of murdering a member of HERO Force.”
Noah’s eyes got wide.
“Good. Glad we cleared that up,” said Jax.
Austin chuckled. “See that? Your ass was in the way again.”
Logan opened the computer. “Do you have a password for me?”
Jax handed him a sticky note. Logan typed it in and went to the email application. He whistled. “There are more than thirty thousand emails here.”
“All read, I hope.”
“Yeah, but not by me.” He closed the computer. “It’s going to take some time. Can I bring this home?”
Jax nodded. “We’re counting on you, Doc. We can’t get access to his court documents. We can’t get into his office. We’ve got nothing to go on but that laptop and whatever we find at his house.”
Seven hours later, Logan had organized the emails into folders using keywords, which eliminated a lot of the detritus. He was left with six thousand two hundred messages that needed to be read when he finally packed up his things and headed home for the night.
Home.
The last time he was in his apartment, Gemma was with him, naked in his bed.
Hell, lots of women had been in his bed, but the memory of that one grabbed him by the balls. She was a jumble of contradictions. Tame and wild. Sexually greedy with a shade of innocence that made him want to corrupt her. Anonymous and much too familiar all at the same time.
He thought of the way she’d emerged from the bathroom at the club, her hair down, oozing sex appeal where she’d been the untouchable professional just moments before. Of course he’d touched her anyway.
He’d do anything to keep touching her.
It figured he’d been drawn to a woman who only wanted sex. Yet another juxtaposition. He was used to being the one who only wanted to get off, constantly keeping a relationship at bay. Now she’d captivated his interest and she wanted nothing to do with him in the light of day.
She’d been long gone when he woke up this morning.
He stepped outside. It was hot and raining hard, thunder rumbling in the distance, and he jogged to his car. The laptop was shielded from the rain by a leather bag, but he wasn’t so lucky. In the fifty feet from the building to his car, he’d gotten completely soaked.
The Ferrari’s powerful engine roared to life. The car was his baby. Cowboy had once called it Logan’s girlfriend, joking that it was the only curvy thing that would let him touch it.
If he only knew how wrong he was.
In his mind, he could see his hand grazing Gemma’s naked hip. He clenched the wheel tighter, his hands aching to stroke her again, and he cursed under his breath. A flash of lightning illuminated the empty street.
It was late, he was tired and he would have liked the company of a woman. One woman in particular.
Gemma Faraday.
He parked in the lot across from his apartment and took off through the rain once more. He almost didn’t notice her in the shadows, just to the side of the entrance to his building.
“Logan?”
Recognition was instantaneous and his dick leaped in his pants. She’d come back for an encore performance, as if he’d conjured her with his thoughts. He moved close to her, already anticipating their kiss, when he realized she was crying.
He cupped her face in his hands. She had an abrasion from below her cheekbone to high on her temple. “What happened?”
“I’m sorry to just show up here like this. I didn’t know where else to go.”
“It’s okay.” He steered her into the building, opening the door with a wave of his keychain.
“You said you help people.”
He tilted his head. “Yeah. What’s going on?”
Her lip trembled for a moment before her face crumpled. “I really need help.”