Chapter 5
R iordan
Genevieve’s eyes widened as she took me in. “Arran said you’d gone somewhere with Cassie.”
Cassie rounded the table to my side, kneeling on the bench next to me. “I took him.”
I had no idea of my motivation, maybe it was pride taking the wheel, but I wasn’t about to be a victim. “I’m here as Cassie’s bodyguard,” I amended. “Are you both okay? Tell me you’re safe.”
The two women confirmed that they were and that the warehouse was on lockdown with all crew pulled back until some event had taken place. Arran and Shade were keeping their information close. I didn’t doubt Cassie’s guess at their actions, though.
Gen’s gaze shifted across the screen. “Is it true that you got a letter, Cassie?”
My tiny, crazy captor paled then reached for her pocket, extracting the killer’s note. I’d only seen it from across the room earlier and stared at it like it could give up any further clues. Block capitals in a black ink. Plain paper, unlined. Nothing further that gave me any insight into its source.
Yet some motherfucker had written that in my name in order to trap Cassie.
My sisters listened to her explanation and puzzled over the message and the implied threat.
Everly pressed her fingertips to her lips, her shock obvious. “The killer tried to lure you out by pretending to be Riordan? Thank God you didn’t go. But how did they get in your room? Whoever it was had access to that floor to deliver it. Has anyone pulled CCTV?”
Cassie gave a dramatic sigh. “There won’t be any. This is terrible to confess, but I’ve been messing with Arran. To stop him keeping an eye on me, I disabled the camera in the hall. I can’t believe I was such an idiot.”
Both cooed over her, trying to make her feel better. I raised a wry eyebrow.
She noticed. Cringed.
Eventually, she got off the call with a final comment from Everly about sending her something for their shared hobby, whatever that was.
Cassie peeked at me. “Why did ye jump in like that? I was ready to take the blame.”
“If you’d asked me to come here with you, I would’ve.” A simple truth but honest. Staying for tonight was also my decision, no matter Arran’s order or her brother’s strong-arming.
She hung her head. “Oh. If it counts for anything, I’m really sorry for what I did. Not for ye being here with me, but for scaring ye.”
“In the car, I couldn’t see you so had no idea who was driving. I thought another gang had taken me. It was right after I’d put two and two together on Bronson.”
Her eyes flew to mine. “God. I made such a mess of it. If I promise to make it up to ye, can ye forgive me?”
“Don’t bother. I’m only staying because you’d be vulnerable if I left. I won’t let you die on my watch, but that’s it.”
Her shoulders slumped.
Why the hell did that make me feel like the bad guy?
One of her little nieces, a copy-paste of Cassie, ran in and commanded her attention. Cassie took her hand and exited the room, barely looking at me. But someone else was. I lifted my chin to her brother across the kitchen, waiting for his condemnation. Sinclair stomped over, two open beer bottles in his hand. He held one out.
I took it. “Is it drugged?”
He snorted. “Not my style. If I wanted ye unconscious, I wouldn’t need anything but my hands. The beer’s non-alcoholic, though, as you’re on duty this evening.” Resting a hip against the island that separated the long family dinner table from the rest of the kitchen, Cassie’s brother pointed his bottle at me. “Once we’re gone early tomorrow, you’ll be here alone with Cassie.”
I swigged the cool beer, noncommittal, though I’d already decided to stay. Then a random question formed. “Did Lottie really make the first move on you?” It seemed so unlikely. I’d taken a quick measure of her over dinner and found her quiet and calm. Nothing like his and Cassie’s bolder nature.
No smile broached his lips. “I didn’t tell ye that to warm ye to my sister. I’m naw her fucking fluffer. As far as I’m concerned, you’re an unknown quantity and therefore have a mountain to climb to prove you’re good enough. What I need now is a walk-through of what ye learned today so I can feel better about naw being here. Give me Cassie’s main vulnerabilities.”
A pop quiz. Great.
Despite my annoyance, I listed what I’d already identified. “The size of the house is a problem. More entry points than can be easily defended. If more than one person attacks, that’s an issue.”
Sinclair drank his beer. “Every door and window has sensors which alert if it’s open or broken. There would be no element of surprise, and the exact entry point would be known.”
“And if that system’s offline?”
“It won’t be.”
I pressed my lips together, no choice but to believe him as he wasn’t going to share how everything worked.
“Fire would be my next concern. You pointed out the sprinkler system, but again, if that’s down, or if the smoke’s coming from a non-extinguishable source, that’s a problem. If we can’t breathe, we have to run.”
“Has your target been known to use tactics like this?”
I considered his question. “No. He’s drugged women and abducted them but always in a low-key way, from what I can tell.”
“What evidence supports that?”
I thought back to what I knew and pieced it together, really paying attention to the murders, thanks to what I’d read on Cassie’s detective wall. “Cherry, the first woman he killed, worked the churchyard steps across the street from where I used to live. Anyone could lurk in the dark graveyard surrounding the church. He hid then killed her where he caught her. Natasha Reid was drugged, suggesting he needed to abduct her to somewhere quiet to do the deed. With the third woman, Amelia Martin, he broke into her temporary home, telling me he’d watched the place as she was house-sitting. It makes sense now as we know the Four Milers were targeting the mayor and that was next door. With Alisha, he got her to come to him. All of that tells me his tactics are subtle and with the intention to stay out of sight.”
Not the smash and grab I’d described with a raid or flames. He’d sneak in and kill without a fanfare.
Sinclair watched me. “Then tell me again Cassie’s vulnerabilities.”
There was only one conclusion I could reach. “Being alone.”
He tipped his head in what looked like satisfaction at my thought process matching his. I got a small burst of pride.
It was short-lived. The hulking man pinned me with a dark stare.
“Are ye the killer?”
My jaw dropped. “Of course I’m fucking not.”
His savage regard continued. “I’d do anything for my family. Take, maim, kill. I wouldn’t hesitate. Arran tells me ye fronted up to him to protect your sister. That true?”
Annoyed, I inclined my head in agreement.
“Then understand that whatever lengths you’d be prepared to go to, I would go tenfold. Any of Cassie’s family would. She’s been through a lot in her life and deserves only good things. Lock that warning into your head as ye keep her safe. Tell me again how you’ll manage it.”
He tapped the table to mark his point.
Two competing emotions battled inside me. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself for his attitude. I also respected him for doing all the things I would for Gen or Everly, though on steroids.
I worked my jaw. “I’d feel a whole lot more comfortable if we had someone watching the outside. Two or three people who could take on an intruder while I play bodyguard. You’re asking for vulnerabilities, that’s the greatest one. I’d stand between her and a blade, same as I would for any woman whether she deserves it or not, but if I’m taken down, she’s on her own.”
“Good thing Arran’s sending crew members and I’ve got friends flying over to help. Like I said, you’re an unknown quantity. I wouldn’t trust ye as far as I could throw ye.”
He gave me a smirk then strode away.
A few hours later, Cassie was sequestered away in Sinclair and Lottie’s apartment, putting their kids to bed while I remained in the hallway, waiting her out.
Pissed off, I glowered at the house. My first impressions of it being a stately home were accurate. It was a goddamn mansion, with a dramatic staircase that swept up from the wide entrance hall to the floor where the family each seemed to have their own apartment. The kitchens downstairs were big enough for a team of people to work in, which they probably did hundreds of years ago, and every inch of my surroundings was marble, stone, or carved wood, and littered with antiques.
I hadn’t paid enough attention to Cassie’s rooms when I’d been in there, only looking for an opportunity to leave. Now I was staying, I’d get a second chance.
Adjusting my position from my lean on the wall, I admitted a fact to myself.
It wasn’t just safety features I wanted to see. Her home would give me clues to the woman herself. The pictures on her walls. The items she surrounded herself with. I’d done the same in her room at Arran’s warehouse, taking in a rack of short and sparkly dresses and the plentiful stash of makeup—at odds with the killer edge I knew her to have.
I didn’t understand her.
No, that wasn’t exactly right.
I couldn’t trust my gut, which told me she wasn’t dangerous to me. I couldn’t believe my instincts which sat up and begged for more when she called me hers.
I needed Cassie to prove me wrong so when this was over, I could walk away from her without regret.