Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
CHANCE
Watching the men work had to be one of the most eye-opening experiences so far. Sure, I’d seen how they’d been during the search for Tank. This was different.
My boyfriend led them with a calm sort of dominance. There was an obvious veil of respect between them all. Maybe even some admiration if you dug a little deeper.
Tank had given them a home in NightShade. He’d created a family.
It was far more involved than I’d ever known.
And now I was part of it.
With only the last few days to go by, I could already tell it was going to be better than even my own family. Not that there was much to surpass with that bunch.
Memphis and Arick had their laptops perched on their laps as they waited for Tank to give them more and more information. It was as if every word he spoke would be the one to break the case.
I kind of hoped it went that way.
This whole Gilded Ones problem needed to be dealt with. Diestro Lune, for all his money and power, was going to fall just like the others had.
“We’ve already uncovered everything you’ve shared so far. I need the deeper stuff, boss. The things people wouldn’t know in a background check,” Memphis said.
Arick nodded. “Was there anyone else around at this time? Did you have friends that maybe you had a falling out with?”
Tank shook his head as he looked from both men to me. I wasn’t sure what he was hoping to find in our gazes. He was the only one who had the answers we needed.
“I’m trying to remember it all, but I can’t. There wasn’t anyone who stands out in my mind.”
“Ok, then let’s start from the beginning,” Memphis pointed out. “What about when you were on the run? Did your mom have enemies?”
“Not really. We never stayed anywhere long enough for that to happen.”
I nodded along, following the train of thought. “You mentioned after you settled there was another guy? Your stepdad, right?”
Memphis jumped in. “Did your stepdad have anyone who might dislike you? Guys he worked with that lost out when you killed him?”
“The guy was a dick, but he was also a loner. He made money off an inheritance rather than working. I doubt anyone even cared that he was gone.” Tank’s scoff brought a grin to my face. He was always so arrogant.
“What about the next phase of your life when you went into foster care?”
At my question, he closed his eyes. I could tell he was getting tired from all the questioning. It wouldn’t be long before he needed to rest.
He would push until he couldn’t anymore. Too much was on the line now.
“I can’t think of anything. The parents back then were ok. I got lucky, only having to stay with two different couples before I got out.”
Arick leaned forward. “Why two? What happened at the first?”
“They got busted for drugs during a surprise visit. I’d been at school, but when CPS showed up, they found the mom strung out on coke while the dad was fucking the dealer.”
“Wow,” I said slowly. “Glad you didn’t stick with them for any longer.”
Tank’s smirk said he agreed with me.
“And the second?” Memphis asked. “They were better, you said?”
“Yeah, they were. Cute couple. They had a couple of other kids there at the time. I can’t remember any of them. From what I do recall, they’d been fostering for over a decade, so they had lots of experience.”
“Yet you left anyway?” I questioned.
He pulled his hand from mine. I hated that he needed the space, yet I had a feeling what he was going to say next was tough for him.
“Losing my mom was hard. It didn’t feel real at first, you know?” Tank didn’t wait for us to answer before continuing. “All my focus went into getting revenge for her. I had to craft the perfect murder so I wouldn’t get caught. Then after it was done, I was just kind of floating along. My grief took over, making me ignore everyone and everything around me. It’s why I didn’t even realize the first set of parents were pieces of shit.”
“That’s fair,” Memphis said softly.
“Yeah. I can attest to being blindsided by things. Life doesn’t always go how we think it would.” Arick’s words had the rest of us nodding along.
“The other kids that were there — do any of them stick out in your mind at all?” Tank tilted his head my way at the question.
I couldn’t explain why I felt the need to keep pressing this one part of the story. Call it my intuition. Or maybe it was just the only thing so far that seemed to be gray enough to lead us to some kind of answer.
“We can look into the foster parents to see who all they’d had in their care back then. Maybe seeing them will jog your memory or something?”
At Arick’s suggestion, Memphis went to work on his laptop. It was interesting to see the level of focus the man had. I admired him for it in some ways.
Arick also appeared to be digging up information, though he wasn’t nearly as harried. The calm surrounding him spoke to the difference in the two men’s personalities.
Tank and I sat quietly as they worked. Not because we thought we’d interrupt them by speaking, or at least that was my reasoning. I think it was more because there wasn’t anything else to say at the moment.
My gaze stayed on Tank as he settled deeper into the bed. His muscles relaxed bit by bit, as if the sound of the keyboards were lulling him into a state of rest.
When his eyes finally closed, I felt as if I could finally breathe easy. Being on alert for his every move was taxing. I loved him and would do anything for him. This was just another challenge in the life we were building together.
“Psssttttt.” I made the noise softly to get the guys’ attention. They looked up in a freaky twin robot kind of way. I bit back a laugh as I pointed to Tank and then the door.
Nodding, they lifted their devices and followed me out of the room. I wanted to stay with him while he slept, but I felt like there was more for me to do. If Tank couldn’t have his eyes on this process, then I needed to step in for him.
“Do you think he’ll be ok in there alone?” I asked no one in particular as we stepped back into the main room.
To my surprise, Damari spoke up first. “I can sit with him. It’s not as if I’m going to be digging into the depths of the case with you guys anyway.”
Ronan pulled his partner into his arms. “Get some rest while you’re in there. And get with Jared to order food if either of you gets hungry. We’re right down the hall if an emergency comes up.”
Damari flushed under the watchful gaze. “Yes, sir. I’ll be fine.”
They shared a quick kiss, then Damari was gone. I shouted, “Thank you!” to his retreating form. He grinned over his shoulder as if to say I was welcome before disappearing around the corner.
“Update us,” Ronan demanded, though his tone wasn’t as hard as I suspected it could be.
Memphis dropped his laptop on the table, then leaned forward, palms flat on either side of the device.
“We don’t have much. From what he said, there isn’t anyone out there who would want to hurt him from back then. Aside from people he might have met on the street, I’m not sure who else could be involved.”
I stepped forward, drawing everyone’s attention. “While I agree with Memphis, there’s one thing he said that’s worth checking out.”
“Chance is right,” Arick added. “Tank mentioned he had some foster siblings during his time in the last home. There might be someone there who is involved.”
“Or it could be someone who knows one of those people.” Godric threw out the suggestion, stealing the words from my mouth.
Cohen didn’t sound as convinced when he said, “Why would someone who knew him back then want to hurt him now? That’s a long game approach.”
“Why do bad people do anything they do? Sometimes they just want to.” Archie’s assessment was far too intuitive for someone his age.
Looking around the room, I marveled at how varied the group before me was. There was no single age group or ethnicity represented here. It was a blended family I felt honored to be part of.
“I think we should check every possible connection,” I told them. “Anything we think could maybe relate to this gets looked over. I’d rather take the time to rule it out than to assume and later feel stupid or be caught off guard.”
Everyone seemed to agree with me, though some a bit more reluctantly. I hoped Cohen got past whatever it was that bothered him. It would be good if we were all on the same page.
A divided crew would fail every time.
An alarm rang out just as Ronan opened his mouth to speak. Frowning, he pulled his phone from his pocket.
“What is it?” Memphis asked, only to be silenced by another ringing noise. This time it was Orion who grabbed for his phone.
The same noise happened twice more, once for Memphis, and then for Cohen. It was as if they all synced up their phones at one, even though I had a feeling it wasn’t that type of alarm.
“Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” I asked.
“Those sounds are all the security alarms in our homes. I have them all set up to one main server. And if you’ll look to the wall, you’ll see what I can see.”
We turned as a group to face the big wall as Memphis displayed his screen. I saw multiple flashing dots, each with a different alert.
“Is that saying —?”
“Yes, it is. Flood alarm. Power outage. Glass break. Fire alarm. All set to go off within a minute of each other.”
My jaw dropped at the precision of such a strike. “Are they real? Do you guys need to go check on your homes?”
Memphis shook his head quickly. “There’s nothing wrong. I can see someone tapped into the systems from here. It was all triggered remotely. Besides, I can pull up the cameras at my place and see that everything is fine.”
“Yeah, and everything that’s most important to me is here,” Ronan added. “Not going to worry about a building when my heart is safe.”
My own heart melted at the love in his voice. Damari was a lucky man.
Then again, so was I.
“What now? Why something like this? It doesn’t make sense.” I pondered aloud.
Arick hummed, though he was too busy on his computer to answer as well. Orion was cuddled up beside him, his gaze on the screen as well. He hadn’t said a word, even though I knew he likely had insight we could use.
Godric had also been quiet. I looked to the big, stoic man. He shrugged, then said, “Seems to me Lune might want more of our attention now that Tank is out of the hospital. Maybe he’s ramping up his attacks toward us.”
“With false alarms?” Cohen asked. “That seems like a reach.”
“Hey guys!” a new voice called out as he stepped in the door. I spun to see Sinclair walking in with two trays of coffee and a brown bag precariously balanced in his arms.
“Let me help!” Memphis rushed forward, stealing the bag and dropping it on the table. He took the coffee trays next, handing them over to Archie and Takeshi, who smiled at the move. Then Memphis was wrapped around Sinclair, kissing him like they’d been apart for weeks.
“Good to see you too,” Sinclair said once he was let up for air.
The lot of us laughed at his teasing tone as Memphis snarled and tried for another. Sinclair dodged him as he moved to pass out the drinks.
“Sorry, Chance. I didn’t know what you liked so you’ve got a black coffee.”
I took the drink happily. “Not to worry. I’ll be fine. Any caffeine is good at this rate.”
“What snacks did you bring us?” Cohen leaned closer to the bag, sniffing as if he could get to the pastries.
Sinclair raised his hands. “Oh, no. That’s not from me. There was a guy delivering it to the front desk when I got here. I told him I’d take it back.”