Chapter 1 #2
They’re cool as cucumbers, watching me as if they saw this coming a mile away. Like I was always going to end up here, moping on my best friend’s couch, begging for information and obsessing over a girl who doesn’t even know my name.
“Does Carter know about this?”
“Not yet. I just need information. Can’t imagine why that’s any of his concern. He’s got bigger shit to deal with.”
“Alright, then tell me why?”
“Because Jax is full of shit! I don’t buy what he said at Scarlett. Leilani’s not jumpy because of Carter; she’s scared of Jax. And I don’t get why she’s with him if that’s the case.”
“Maybe she doesn’t have anywhere else to go?” Bianca says. “Maybe she’s uncomfortable with his line of work? I know I was at first.”
My head’s shaking before she’s done talking.
“No.” I ran every possibility through my head, like Ryder does with his computers, but nothing clicked.
Nothing seems plausible. “I’ve seen enough women in bad situations to know what it looks like.
This screams bad, Bianca. She’s trapped. I need to know why.”
“She didn’t seem to mind all that much when he stuck his tongue down her throat,” Ryder says.
They’re just words. Words pointing out a fact, something I saw, but words, I realize, can cut as sharp as any blade.
“Don’t,” I grit out. “Don’t go there.”
He takes a deep breath, discarding whatever smartass comment he had ready. “You want me to find out why she’s with him?”
“I want everything. How she ended up with him and how long they’ve been a thing, why she stays, where her parents are—everything. Anything you can find.”
“You still haven’t told me why. You were see-through earlier in Scarlett when you saw her,” he points out, sipping his scotch.
He’s barely made a dent in it while I’m this close to finishing my third. How I’m still coherent is anyone’s guess.
“I can’t explain it.” I rub my chest like I can crush this raging anxiety before it crushes me. It doesn’t help. My heart still jackhammers through my ribs. “I don’t know how. I see her...”
Leilani’s wide eyes slam into my mind again. that fragile frame trapped in Jax’s arms.
“...and I want to grab her and fucking run.”
That’s not normal. I should be worried. I am worried because that urge is bone deep. Every time I picture her, that need consumes me further.
Grab her.
Rip her out of his arms.
Drag her away.
Keep her safe.
“How are you so deep already?” Ryder huffs, cocking an eyebrow. “Did you know her before?”
“No. Never saw her until last week.”
He studies me, eyes jumping between mine, jaw tight. “Okay. I’ll see what I can find. A surname would speed things up. Carter probably knows—”
“Hale,” I cut in, my shoulders slumping. “I asked him about her last week. Leilani Hale.”
“You should’ve asked for approval while you were at it. We might need an informant or two on the case, and for that you’ll need a green light.”
That shouldn’t be an issue. Leilani was Aalyiah’s friend. If I tell my boss I suspect Jax is mistreating her, he’ll authorize it.
“You won’t leave until I’ve found something, right?” Ryder pinches the bridge of his nose. “It’s midnight and you’re a pain in my ass.”
“Yeah, but you love me anyway.”
He fetches his laptop and Bianca bids us goodnight. As soon as the bedroom door closes behind her, I pace.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
I sit, bounce my knee, get up again.
I roll my shoulders. Crack my knuckles. Move behind Ryder, watching his fingers fly across the keyboard, gibberish spilling over the screen. Words and numbers come and go faster than I can read them.
“You’re hovering.”
“Deal with it. Anything yet?”
“You realize these things take time, right? More if you keep interrupting. Even more if you keep breathing whiskey at me.”
“Better whiskey than pussy.” I step away to refill my glass.
That’s my fourth drink in twenty minutes and the alcohol to blood ratio in my veins hasn’t changed. I take a whiff in case Ryder filled the bottle with tea.
It smells sharp, woodsy. Divine.
He didn’t.
Which means tonight, I’m immune to alcohol and have no hope of passing out in a pool of my own vomit.
Great.
Ryder breathes in when Bianca darts out of the bedroom to fetch a glass of water. A small smile lights his face, not a common sight.
“She’s good for you,” I say, pointedly looking at the mouth of the corridor where Bianca’s disappeared.
He looks that way too, his tone wary like he expects me to mock him. “Yeah, she is.”
“Good. She’s calmed you down. Before her, you were wound up tighter than Carter.”
He snorts, nodding toward me. “You should see yourself right now. You look ready to jump out of your skin.”
That sounds about right.
I don’t comment, eyes on Ryder’s tapping fingers at the keyboard, the letters long since rubbed off.
“Fuck!” he snaps, sending my heartrate into overdrive.
“What? What have you found?”
“Vaughn.”
I lean over his shoulder. On the screen a short, grainy clip shows Charles Vaughn wheeling down a street in Columbus.
“What the fuck is he doing?” I ask as his wheelchair turns to enter The Millennium Hotel.
Ryder doesn’t answer. He pulls his phone out and dials Carter’s number. I’m close enough to hear him answer.
“Ryder?”
“Vaughn’s in Columbus. He checked into Millennium twenty minutes ago. I’m watching the footage now.”
A booming fuck comes first and then, “He’s fucking asking for it now. Drop whatever you’re doing. Call Koby and meet me at the hotel as soon as you can. I’ll call Broadway.”
I snatch my car keys from the coffee table and hook my jacket over my elbow.
“Koby’s already here. We’ll head out now.”
“Good. I’ll see you there. Don’t go in without me.”
Ryder cuts the call, dials Arthur, and goes to let Bianca know we’re leaving.
I should be furious that Vaughn just waltzed into our backyard like there’s no death sentence hanging over his head, but all I can think about is Leilani.
My fingers flex around my glass.
Well... if I can’t tear Jax apart yet, maybe catching Vaughn will calm the storm inside me. Maybe Carter won’t mind if I break a few bones.
Adrenaline floods my cells, and the bloodthirsty part of my otherwise laid-back personality rears its head.
Good. I need a distraction.
Ever since we found out Vaughn was behind everything that happened to Hailey, I’ve wanted to skin him alive.
Purely as a courtesy to my boss, of course.
That animosity grew when his actions threatened Violet, and then hit an all-time high after Bianca came clean about his inappropriate behavior around her.
If Carter doesn’t kill the guy, I just might.
I’m not in a merciful mood. Haven’t been for a week. Killing Vaughn would take the edge off, make me feel like I’m not sitting around doing fuck all while Jax has the girl who makes my head spin.
Too bad it’s wishful thinking.
No matter how much Carter wants Vaughn gone, he won’t give the order. It would hurt Hailey, and that’s one thing my boss won’t suffer: being the reason for her tears.
Not again. Never again.
Here’s hoping the ex-cop will pull a gun on Carter... providing a viable excuse to put him down.
“Ready?” Ryder comes back, dressed all in black.
“Yeah, let’s catch a bad cop.”