Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
R hys pulled his hot, sleek Mercedes GT in at her landing pad.
The Norcross men sure liked their sexy cars.
“Thanks for babysitting, Rhys,” Maggie said.
He flashed her a smile and she fought back a giddy sigh. Rhys Norcross was gorgeous. He looked like a rock star—shaggy dark hair, handsome face, tattoos, and a twinkle in his sexy, dark eyes.
Maggie saw a woman nearby do a double-take and give him a long, hungry look.
As they walked toward her office, she spotted Gus getting Hetty prepped and waved. He jerked his head and shot Rhys an unhappy glare. She led Rhys into the office.
“Make yourself at home. You’re welcome to make a coffee.”
He lifted his chin, dropped onto the couch, and pulled out a tablet.
Maggie checked her emails. The clients due for the tour of the Bay were a vacationing family—parents and two young boys.
But her thoughts turned to Ace and Vander. She worried her bottom lip. Going to question the hackers shouldn’t be dangerous, but worry still made her nerves dance.
“Maggie?”
She jerked her head up and saw Rhys looking at her.
“It’s going to be fine.”
She nodded. “I’m worried about Ace and Vander.”
Rhys had a sexy laugh, too. Haven was a lucky woman.
“Don’t. Those two can handle themselves.”
“I’m sure Vander could single-handedly defeat a small army,” Maggie said.
“Sure, but don’t let the geek fool you. Ace is trained and capable. They’ll be fine.”
She blew out a breath. She just hated waiting, but thankfully the Ellis family arrived to distract her.
The parents were lovely, and the kids delightful.
The older boy was about ten, and bouncing with eagerness for his first helicopter ride.
The younger boy said he was excited, but was unsuccessfully hiding his nerves.
As the family climbed into Hetty, Maggie crouched. “There’s nothing to be worried about, big guy.”
The boy gave her a tentative nod. “Is it loud?”
“Well, Hetty is pretty noisy.”
“Hetty?”
Maggie patted the side of the helicopter. “The name of my girl here.”
The little boy’s face perked up. “She has a name?”
“She sure does. Henrietta, but I call her Hetty for short. And I have a nifty headset for you to wear.”
He shot her a small smile. “Cool.”
She got everyone settled, and Rhys sprawled in the copilot seat beside her, looking very comfortable. She wasn’t surprised. He was former Ghost Ops. He’d probably lost count of how many times he’d flown in a helicopter.
Finally, they lifted off, and she watched the boys glued to the side window, their excitement obvious.
She did a loop over the Bay, which she knew like the back of her hand.
She spoke into her headset, giving a little commentary on the landmarks.
When they passed close to the Golden Gate Recreational Area and Muir Woods, she stared at the trees, her stomach hard.
But she shook it off. It was easy to do when every time she glanced back, the boys were bouncing in their seats and peppering their parents with questions.
When they finally landed back on the landing pad, the boys had huge grins and flushed faces.
Even Rhys, born and raised in San Francisco, looked like he’d had a good time.
Once they were all out of the helo, she turned Hetty over to Gus, then waved the family off.
“You look like you enjoyed the ride,” she said to Rhys.
“Babe, it’s nice to be in a helo and not be clutching an assault rifle, preparing to fast rope out of it.”
She smiled. “I guess.” Then her smile faded. “Any news from Vander?”
Rhys shook his head, a dark lock of his hair falling over his forehead. “They’ll be fine. Just relax.” He scanned the area, reminding her that he was on duty. “Let’s get back inside.”
She led the way, chewing on her lip again. Be okay, Ace.
* * *
Vander pulled the X6 up near the rundown apartment building in the Tenderloin.
Ace scanned it through the window. “Nice.”
The street was littered with trash, and someone had dumped a shag rug on the corner, along with a dismantled bike frame.
As they exited the SUV, Vander checked his Glock 22, then strode inside. The entry door lock was broken. An enterprising artist had left a picture of a dick and balls spray-painted on the wall.
Better and better . Something crunched under Ace’s boots, and he didn’t bother to look down.
Vander took the stairs. On the second floor, he headed down a hall that had worn, dirty carpet, and smelled faintly of wet dog.
A bottle blonde dressed in a short, black dress leaned in one of the doorways.
Her gaze sharpened on Ace, then Vander.
“Hey boys, interested in a blow job? I usually charge thirty bucks, but for you fine specimens, I’ll do it for twenty.”
Vander glanced her way. “No.”
She eyed him, then her face shut down, and she slipped back into her apartment. The door closed with a sharp bang.
Vander stopped at a door farther down the hall.
“Let me knock,” Ace said. “So, you don’t make them crap themselves.”
Vander stepped out of view and Ace rapped his fist on the wood.
Silence, then footsteps. “Who is it?” a voice called through the door.
“Oliveira.”
Frenzied whispers. Then the door opened a few inches.
“Hey, Ace, long time no see,” the man said.
Kevin “Cowboy” Farrell was tall, and so skinny he looked ill. He had pale skin, and a mop of shaggy hair in a dishwater brown.
The smell of weed wafted out of the apartment. Kevin looked like he hadn’t showered in a few days.
“Hi, Kev. Need to talk to you and Nick.”
“Kind of busy, man. Can you come back another day?”
“No.”
Kevin frowned. “Dude, we’re busy.”
“Fuck off!” a voice shouted from inside.
That would be Nick “Lone Wolf” Chan. Kevin moved to close the door when Vander stepped in, and shoved his boot against it.
Kevin stared at Vander like a tiger had just appeared. His eyes went comically wide.
“N-N-Norcross.”
“Tell whoever it is to fuck off,” Chan shouted again.
Vander shoved open the door and strode in. Kevin stumbled back.
The apartment was crappy, dark, and dirty.
They found Nick Chan seated behind two monitors set up on a rickety table made of scarred wood. The table was cheap, but the screens and computer were top-of-the-line.
As Vander bore down on Nick, the idiot finally tore his gaze from the screens.
His dark eyes went wider than Kevin’s.
Nick had ruler-straight, black hair, with a streak of blue through it. “Norcross,” he stuttered.
Vander put his boot to the chair, right between Nick’s legs and kicked. The chair and Nick fell backward and smacked against the floor.
“Now,” Vander said. “We have a few questions for you.”
Ace hid his laugh behind a cough.
Nick scrambled to his feet, and both men stood side-by-side, like naughty kids sent to see the school principal.
“Quicksilver,” Vander said.
Kevin jerked and Nick blinked rapidly.
“Never heard of him,” Nick said.
Ace groaned. “Listen up, you morons, we work in security and investigations. We can tell when people are lying.”
Vander’s tone dipped to frigid levels. “So don’t lie to me.”
Both hackers swallowed.
“He said he was in town,” Nick said. “We game online sometimes, but we haven’t seen him.”
Ace narrowed his gaze. “You know why he’s here?”
“Got a big job,” Kevin blurted.
Nick shot him a dirty look.
“A big job killing a woman?” Ace said silkily. “ My woman?”
Both hackers stiffened.
“Quicksilver didn’t say nothing about killing no one,” Kevin said.
Vander circled the apartment.
Kevin and Nick watched him warily.
“You know where Quicksilver might stay?” Ace asked.
The men shook their heads, still watching Vander. Vander walked into the tiny kitchen. Ace arched his head and saw the sink was overflowing with dirty plates. The place was a pigsty.
There was a rustling sound, and then Vander came back. He was using a latex glove to hold up some plastic.
“Care to explain this?” Vander asked.
Ace stared at the wrapper…from a package of cotton candy.
“Your trash can is full of these,” Vander continued.
Ace thought of Maggie running from her drone, waking screaming from her nightmare, getting shot at by the second drone.
She was in danger and it was his job to protect her. The tight ball in his chest grew bigger. These two idiots were standing in his way.
Ace exploded. He shoved Kevin, who tripped and fell with a squawk.
Then Ace swiveled and shoved Nick against the wall, his forearm to the hacker’s throat. Nick scratched at Ace’s arm and made a gurgling sound.
“Where the fuck is Quicksilver?” Ace asked.
Nick’s eyes flared, but he stayed silent.
“He’s working for the fucker who’s trying to kill my woman. My pregnant woman.”
Nick blanched. Kevin, still on the floor, made a wheezing sound.
“Tell him,” Vander ordered.
“He’s staying here,” Nick choked out. “He went out for cigarettes and to get some more of that fucking cotton candy.”
Ace put more pressure on Nick’s throat and his eyes bulged. “Good choice.”
“Why’s the front door open?” a British-accented voice called out. A young man strolled in, stuffing pink cotton candy in his mouth. He had curly brown hair, a large nose, and large, brown eyes.
When he saw Ace and Vander, he froze, dropped the candy, and ran.
But Vander was faster.
Ace didn’t even see Vander move. He lunged after Quicksilver and, a second later, dragged the twisting, cursing hacker back inside.
He tossed Quicksilver on the couch.
“Sit and don’t move,” Vander warned.
Ace released Nick.
Quicksilver wiped a hand across his mouth. He wore a large, gray hoodie and blinked rapidly.
“You don’t want to mess with me, bastards,” Quicksilver yelled. “I have friends who will fuck you up.”
Kevin and Nick desperately shook their heads, trying to get Quicksilver to shut up.
Vander shifted closer. “You know who I am?”
“Don’t care if you’re the bloody Queen.”
Vander crouched in front of Quicksilver. “My name is Vander Norcross.”
Quicksilver clamped his mouth shut.
“I’m guessing you do know who I am. You’re in my city now, and I expect you to answer my friend’s questions.”
Quicksilver’s face rippled, he glanced at Ace, but he didn’t say anything.
Ace stepped forward. “We shot your drone down.”
Quicksilver surged up, but Vander pushed him back down on the couch.
“That bloody drone took me forever to put together. The programming was a piece of art. I can’t believe you wrecked it.”
“It was fucking firing on me and my woman,” Ace said.
The hacker went pale. “No. It wasn’t armed.”
Ace pointed to the bandage on his arm. “I’ve got the flesh wound to prove it was, asshole.”
Quicksilver swallowed convulsively. “He never said anything about shooting at anyone. I programmed it for him, but it was just supposed to follow her, chase her. Mess with her a bit.”
“Who is he ?” Ace asked, his voice low and vibrating with rage.
“Spiner. Paul Spiner.”
A muscle ticked in Ace’s jaw. “Paul Spiner is a sixty-six-year-old professor at the University of San Francisco.”
Quicksilver’s brow creased. “No, that ain’t right. Dude is younger.”
“Around forty?” Ace asked. “Brown hair, blue eyes.”
“Yeah.” Quicksilver wiped a hand across his mouth. “He paid well. Flew me out here and it all sounded fun.”
“To terrorize a woman?” Vander’s tone dropped temperature several degrees.
Quicksilver licked his lip. “She’s his ex. Said she’s a real bitch.”
Ace exploded. He grabbed the front of Quicksilver’s shirt and yanked him up. He spun the man and slammed him into the table. The monitors rocked.
“He barely knows her,” Ace said. “She’s my woman, and pregnant with my baby.”
“Oh, fuck.” Quicksilver was breathing hard. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know.”
“Your drone shot at her. Someone put a fucking bomb in her car.”
Quicksilver started sweating. “I didn’t know.”
Ace shoved him again and the guy cried out.
“Ace,” Vander said.
Ace released the man. “Where do we find this Spiner?”
“I met him at an office. A shitty place in a strip mall.” Quicksilver rattled off the address.
“And do you know where Ross Booker is?” Vander asked.
Quicksilver closed his eyes. “Shit. Booker came out with me from New York. You said there was a bomb in her car?”
“Yes,” Ace said.
“Look, Booker is a decent guy—”
Ace shifted and Quicksilver cut off.
“He nearly killed an innocent woman,” Ace said. “Where. Is. He?”
Quicksilver blew out a shaky breath. “He’s staying in a cheap motel by the airport. The Cozy Inn.”
“I suggest you head back to New York, Quicksilver,” Vander said. “And don’t come back to San Francisco again.”
The man’s head bobbed.
Vander pointed at Kevin and Nick. “And I’ll be watching you two.”
They both nodded.
Ace and Vander strode out. Once they were out of the apartment building, Ace pulled in a few deep breaths.
“I need to call Hunt in on this,” Vander said.
Ace nodded.
Back in the X6, Ace listened as Vander talked to Hunt.
“Good. We’ll meet you there.” Vander paused. “Yeah, yeah, we won’t make a mess.” He made a sound. “And yeah, I’ll owe you. Again.”
Vander ended the call and started the engine. “Hunt’s sending cops to pick up Booker at the motel. He’ll meet us at Fake Spiner’s office.”
“Good.”
Vander drove fast, and soon, they were pulling in at the strip mall in Diamond Heights. They screeched to a stop, just as an unmarked Dodge Charger pulled up, along with a police car.
Hunt climbed out of the Charger and waved. Two uniforms got out of the other car and joined him.
Ace studied the office.
Cityscape Holdings.
“Let’s go in,” Hunt said.
They knocked. The front doors were locked, and there was no answer. They peered in through the smoky glass.
“No one inside.” Hunt nodded at the uniforms. “Break it down.”
“Wait.” Vander pulled out a set of lock picks. It took him thirty seconds, and the door swung open.
The office inside was empty.
The uniforms cleared the rooms. “No one here, Detective.”
Ace, Vander, and Hunt checked the two offices. The desks were empty, and there were a few loose papers on the floor. The filing cabinet doors hung open.
Ace studied the cords by the desks. “There were computers here.”
“They left in a hurry.” Hunt frowned.
Fuck . Ace kicked the desk. Fake Spiner was long gone, and they still had no idea who he really was.
“We’ll pull Cityscape Holdings apart,” Vander said. “We’re not giving up.”
They weren’t giving up, but Maggie still wasn’t safe.