Chapter 9
9
RAE
“ W ant me to come back later or grab some popcorn? I’m down for either,” he added.
I blinked, slowly taking in the striking man.
Dressed in an all-black suit, he stood just inside the front door, smiling like a Cheshire cat. His bright blue eyes held my considering stare, giving me a moment to come to my senses. Tattoos decorated the hands clutched around two bag handles. Everything about him screamed asshole, but he wore it well.
Very well.
“Good of you to join us,” Alec said, stepping around me to block my view of the newcomer. Turning, he fixed his narrowed eyes on me. “That conversation is not over.”
“Yes it is.” Side-stepping around Alec, I strode toward the man, hand outstretched. “Rae Chapin. You must be the agent Alec mentioned. Thank you so much for coming to help.”
His head tilted, those blue eyes staring straight through me. When they slipped over my shoulder, he nodded toward me. “I like her. She has better manners than you, Hulk,” he said while taking my hand.
“Hulk?” I questioned. Turning, I had to step back to keep from eating Alec’s chest. “Fitting nickname.”
“I thought so too. Agent Charlie Bekham, at your service.” While keeping his gaze locked behind me, Agent Bekham drew my hand up to his lips and pressed them against the back.
“Knock it off, Bekham.” With a gentle swat, Alec broke Charlie’s grip and once again stepped between me and the agent. I frowned at his muscular back. “Thanks for coming. What do you need to get started?”
“Can I set up here?” He hitched his chin toward the empty table Alec had previously occupied before our fight. “All I need is an outlet and Wi-Fi.”
“Yeah, we have both. Set up what, exactly?”
I followed the agent, trying to forget about the asshole following too close. At the desk, he carefully laid one bag on the table and dropped the other haphazardly to the floor. While he began pulling out various objects from his bag, I leaned to the side to check on the visitor from earlier. His attention was no longer on us, rather solely focused on the computer screen in front of him.
“This.” Agent Bekham’s word brought my attention back to the table as he opened a fancy laptop. “Now,” he said to Alec without looking away from the screen, “what do you need?”
“Every file that lists Rae as a suspect or she’s at least mentioned.”
The agent’s dark brow rose. “Someone’s been a naughty girl.” He laughed through a wince when Alec smacked a palm against his head. “Got it, files and no hitting on your girl.”
“Not his girl,” I chipped in.
“This keeps getting more and more interesting. Okay, so files on Miss Chapin here, also known as not Alec’s girlfriend. If I have some parameters to narrow down the search, it’ll take less time.”
“Is this legal?” I asked, studying the two men.
Both shrugged.
“It will be with the waiver Alec here is about to sign giving me access past their firewalls, which I just broke through. Make sure you backdate that form, pal.” Charlie smirked.
I stepped away from the table, hands raised in surrender. “They cannot associate me with this. I’m already in hot water with the police.”
“I’ll take the fall if there’s backlash. There shouldn’t be, though. As a Ranger, I have authority over every police department in the state and can bring in other agency liaisons as needed without approval.”
“So fancy,” Agent Bekham whispered under his breath. I chuckled behind my hand at the frown that tugged at Alec’s lips. Apparently the two didn’t get along. “What am I looking for?”
“Wait.” I swallowed hard. “You’re a hacker.” The agent nodded, making my stomach drop. I couldn’t risk someone like him diving into my personal records and online activity. I hadn’t prepared for a hacker. “You’re only looking into the cases, right? Nothing else?”
The agent’s fingers paused over the keyboard, and he slowly raised his gaze to peer over the top of the laptop. Alec also stopped what he was doing to stare across the table at me.
“What would I find elsewhere, Rae?” the agent asked. All lightness and humor vanished from his tone. “What are you hiding that you’re afraid I’ll find?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I had to think of something. Too many were counting on me to keep them safe. No one, especially not these two, could learn my dark secret. I blurted the only thing that came to my mind.
“Porn.” I internally cringed, then made it so much worse. “I like to watch a lot of lesbian porn.”
Fucking hell. Cheeks on fire, I turned on my heels and all but sprinted back to my desk to hide behind a stack of books.
“Now that I want to see.” Agent Bekham’s purring voice carried through the entire library. “Together, maybe. Ouch! Stop fucking hitting me.”
I laughed behind the books, knowing exactly who’d hit him.
The laughter faded when the realization of what I needed to do next hit me. Now I had to download a ton of lesbian porn to make my story legit. On the library server, no less, because I didn’t have internet at home.
I really hated myself sometimes.
Determined to shake it off, I sat up straight in the chair and began the process of cataloging the stack of newly received books. When Alec’s presence loomed over me, I ignored him and kept working.
“Lesbian porn?” I refused to look until he tugged the book I was working on off the desk and held it high, forcing my gaze up. “That seems odd, considering.”
I knew not to take the bait, but I did.
“Considering what?”
Placing the book on the desk, he pressed both palms to the surface and leaned in close. “Considering how you studied every inch of my cock this morning and looked ready to fall on your knees willing for me to fuck that sassy mouth of yours.”
My lungs seized while my heart attempted to thrash out of my chest. I wanted to scream at him and tell him he was wrong, but that would’ve been a lie. I just hated that he read me so well, saw exactly what I wanted, what I needed from him. I swallowed hard, trying to shove away that mental picture of me worshipping him from my knees.
“Just makes me wonder, Sunshine,” he whispered. I sucked in a breath when his exhale brushed over my ear. “What are you hiding?”
“Nothing,” I murmured, too distracted by him to worry about anything else. “Girl on girl, yay.” Yeah, that totally sold it.
“Right.” The desk slid an inch when he pushed off. Slipping both hands into the front pockets of his jeans, he studied me. “Don’t lie to me, Rae.”
“Or what? I mean, I’m not.” Smooth, Rae. Real smooth. Now he not only knows you’re hiding something but, bonus, knows you’re a kinky ass and like the idea of a punishment for lying. “Please stop distracting me. I have to get back to work. Lots to do.”
He stood there a second longer, watching me attempt to work before turning and striding back to the agent. I relaxed against my chair and let out a long breath. Holy hell, that was intense. Fanning my fiery face, I scanned the library to make sure no one heard the conversation when I noticed the empty computer area.
Huh. Usually the older ones were here for hours trying to figure out the computer nuances. Grabbing the cleaning spray and rag, I went the long way around the library, zigzagging through the shelves to not pass Alec and the agent. Childish, yep, but I was okay with that.
Spraying down the chair and desk area, I wiped up the cleaning fluid, hitting the mouse. The screen brightened to life, showing the blank résumé template he’d been working on, not a single thing changed.
“What the…?” I muttered under my breath. If the guy didn’t want to do the work, then why the hell did he let me walk him through it for fifteen minutes? Jerk.
The mouse slid along the pad as I moved it to click out of the document.
A grainy picture flashed, now visible after the document was gone. I squinted and leaned in closer to the screen. It was dark, but the details of the person in the picture were ones I knew well considering I’d been studying him since yesterday.
Alec.
I covered my open mouth with my fingers as I clicked to the next picture.
Alec, earlier in the day.
Then the next.
Alec and me in the truck.
I tried to call out to the two men, but nothing would come out. Fear seized my throat.
I knew what this meant. This wasn’t a warning but a promise.
Someone was watching me, and Alec was the next target.
“I’m not changing my mind,” I stated as I slammed my shoulder against my front door, shoving it open. My soles let out a squeak as I whipped around to slam the door shut, but his square-toed boot slid between the door and frame before it could.
“For the hundredth time, Sunshine, that’s not happening.” His fingers curled around the door. Careful to not push me over, since I was leaning all my body weight against it to keep him and Agent Bekham out, he inched the door open until a gap appeared, wide enough for him to slip through with Agent Bekham hot on his heels. “You’re acting like that was only a threat to me. There were pictures of you too. Fuck, Rae.” He stopped and turned, running both hands through his hair. “You’re in danger, and I’m not leaving until you’re safe.”
My heart clenched at the word leaving.
“You were the focus of the pictures.” I sighed, exhausted from the last twenty-four hours. “I can’t ask you guys to stay knowing you’re in danger because of me. Please, please leave so I don’t have your death on my conscience too.”
“This means we have proof someone is following you,” Agent Bekham cut in. I raised both brows in question. “Alec filled me in at the library while you were demanding we leave.” He dropped his stuff by the couch and fell onto the cushions with a groan. “That helps with clearing your name. Not finding this guy but proof that your story about someone committing the murders because of you is true.”
I groaned and covered my face with both hands.“Agent Bekham?—”
“Call me Charlie, please.”
“Or Charles,” Alec chimed in.
“Fuck off, Bronson,” Charlie snapped.
“Charlie, Alec is….” Not wanting to face him while saying this out loud, I turned and reengaged all the locks. “Alec is all I have left. I can’t let someone take that from me.”
The weight of those words hung in the air.
Wine. I needed wine.
But when I turned to the kitchen to pour some, I pulled up short as Alec walked through the doorway, a glass of white wine in his hand.
“Here.” I took it from him, too stunned to speak. “Go change. We’ll finish this conversation when you’re done. I’ll order food. What do you feel like?”
I was still staring at the very full glass of wine. “Um, what?”
“Food, Rae. What do you want for dinner?”
“Noodles, Thai maybe. Do you remember where the menus are?”
“I think I can manage. Go change. We’ll be out here waiting.” When I was halfway to the bedroom, Alec called my name, making me check over my shoulder. “Don’t think about running. I will find you if you do, and I won’t be happy.”
That should not make my stomach clench. That should not make my panties wet.
“You’re a conundrum, Alec Bronson,” I said and took a sip. The crisp flavors exploded on my tongue, and the chilled liquid soothed my too hot skin.
“I’ve been called worse.” He chuckled, a small smile on his lips.
Is this his way of apologizing for his remark earlier?
“Yeah, by me,” Charlie said from the couch. “And just because he’s all fun and games with everyone but me. It hurts, Bronson, cuts me deep.”
“Oh shut the hell up.” Alec laughed. “Get back to work on pulling up those files. I’ll order food, and Rae will?—”
“Devise a perfect plan to get you guys out of my house, keeping you safe from the curse that’s darkened my life and turned my soul to ash?”
“Wow,” they both said in unison.
Not holding back, I smiled widely at the two and turned for the bedroom. Once I’d closed the door, sealing me in privacy, I stared into the wineglass like it held all the answers.
He said that kiss was a mistake, a bad judgment call. Then he went and brought me wine and ordered me to change, knowing I liked my routine. He was so damn confusing.
I tried to not take it personally, that maybe it had something to do with my full figure and his perfect Adonis body. But self-doubt continued to creep in, making me question every word, every look he sent my way.
Why in the world would someone like him want someone like me? It was what I’d struggled with daily when we finally moved from friends to a couple. Everyone told me it wouldn’t last, that I wasn’t worthy of the rich stud football player. Because I was me, Rae Chapin, too short, too fat, too poor, and he was everything I wasn’t.
Lips to the glass, I took another gulp and eyed the bed. Kneeling, I groped around the darkness beneath, searching for that damn shoebox. Finally my fingers scraped against the old cardboard and tugged it free. This was a record, going down memory lane twice in a week.
After removing the lid, I flipped through the hundreds of folded square papers, searching for the one I needed the most tonight. The one I only read once but kept as a reminder. When the sharp edge of the note scraped against my fingertip, I withdrew it from the others.
My name in his writing stared back at me. After downing the remaining wine from the glass for liquid courage, I pulled the edge, opening the full sheet of notebook paper. The words on the page hurt as much now as they did then.
This is for the best.
Goodbye, Sunshine
The paper trembled in my hand. It wasn’t so much the words but the timing. The day before, we’d planned a future together. He’d made promises, and then he left. No explanation, just a fucking note left in my locker that I found when he didn’t show up to sit by me at lunch. The bastard didn’t even have the guts to say goodbye to my face.
“Food’s ordered.”
I hastily wiped at the few stray tears, then shoved the note back into the box and returned it under the bed.
I deserved an answer, to know why he left me crushed and inconsolable with heartbreak.
He owed me that.
Maybe I could demand those answers and finally have some closure to the most genuine relationship I ever had.