Chapter 29
Ridge
I lie still on my back, one hand behind my head.
Robyn’s breathing changed a while back. It’s grown slow and even. I’m sure she’s fast asleep.
I wait a little while longer, looking up at the ceiling. I would love to roll over and fall asleep, too, but I can’t.
I don’t do sleepovers.
Her heart has slowed, too. A sure sign if there ever was one.
She’s exhausted. I wore her out. I couldn’t get my beast to settle. He wants me to wake her up, so that he can have at her again.
I really do need to get out more. Do this more.
She makes a small sound and shifts. I freeze.
She huffs out a small breath and then settles.
I wait another minute. Then I slide one leg out from under the sheets, and then the other. I sit up by inches, careful not to jostle her.
Finally, I stand, holding my breath, and look down at her.
She’s on her stomach, one knee drawn up, the sheet bunched around her hips. Her hair is a dark tangle on the pillow. Her mouth is slightly open. There’s a small frown line between her brows that smooths out as I watch.
She makes this little snoring noise.
I smile and catch myself.
My dragon shifts under my skin, unhappy. He doesn’t like me leaving her bed. Tough shit! The bastard is going to have to deal.
He doesn’t get a vote on this one.
I move to the doorway and check her one more time, and she’s still out.
I head into the living room.
My suit pants are on the floor near the table, together with my shirt. My jacket is on the sofa where I tossed it. I quickly dress, then pick up the jacket and slide my hand into the breast pocket. The two small black cases are right where I put them.
I sit on the edge of the sofa and listen for her again.
I take out a case and open it. The covert microphone transmitter inside is the size of a shirt button. It’s matte black, with an adhesive backing. The device runs off a battery cell that will last for months.
I hate doing this, but I have to.
I get up and carefully walk back into the bedroom, noting that Robyn hasn’t moved. I cross to the bookshelf against the far wall. It’s stacked with paperbacks. They’re all romance novels; most of them, anyway. The kind with a naked guy or a couple on the front.
There’s an inch of dead space behind the upper rim where the bracket is recessed. I peel the backing off the device and press it up into that hollow.
Even if she runs her hand along the underside, she’ll feel a smooth strip of bracket. The mic will pick up every word said in this room.
I gave her just enough info on Magma that she’ll want to replay it to her handlers. Not that I think she’s dirty, but this way I can start to prove it.
I take one more look at her. She turns her face into the pillow. Her hair falls across her cheek.
I feel guilt well up, but tamp it down.
I don’t have the luxury of feeling it right now.
I need to get Magma freed.
I leave the bedroom.
After a quick scan of the living room, I pick a lamp on the side table. The base is heavy ceramic, almost iron weight, and the bulb sits inside a fabric shade. Underneath, where the bulb housing meets the base, I ease the second device up into it. The adhesive grips.
I straighten. I check the lamp from a few angles, making sure that the device is not visible. You’d have to lift the entire lamp and turn it over to find it, and even then, you’d need to know what you were looking for. Both devices are lightweight and small. I doubt she’ll find them.
I scrub a hand over my face, and then I move around her apartment, checking the windows and door to make sure that they’re locked.
When I’m done, I leave, testing the door to make sure it locks behind me.
The hallway is empty. I quickly make my way down.
The night guard is in the lobby at the desk, where a bank of televisions has been set up so that he can keep an eye on the CCTV cameras around the building.
He sees me and nods. I have security arriving bright and early to escort Robyn to work. She’s safe in her apartment.
I push through the glass doors and out into the night, doing a double-take at who is standing outside leaning against my SUV. Flint’s arms are folded, and his jaw is set. He’s in full leather; his bike is parked one slot over. He straightens when he sees me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” My voice is low and rough.
“I needed to speak with you.” He stands straighter. “When I queried your whereabouts with the office, I was told that you were carrying out a security check at Dr. Keller’s private residence.”
“That’s right.”
“I thought you would have been done with your ‘security check’ hours ago, so when I needed to talk to you, I went to your house. You weren’t there.
I tried calling several times. When you didn’t answer, I did a ping of your cellphone and was shocked to find that you were still here.
” He looks at his watch. “It’s been over five hours, Ridge.
I’ve been standing here for a good long while.
That’s some ‘security check.’ You certainly are very fucking thorough.
” He folds his arms, glaring at me. “You’re fucking Dr. Robyn Keller, Ridge, really?
Holy shit! I can’t fucking believe it. You? ”
“Are you going to give me a chance to talk?” I ask.
“Have you lost your mind? She’s potentially an asset for the Mainland, and you’re in bed with her. Do you have feelings for this female?”
My head snaps up. “What did you just say?”
“You heard me. You heard every word.”
“So you know she could be a potential asset?”
He nods.
“Reed knows I’m sleeping with her.” I keep my voice low. “She not only sanctioned my sexual relationship with Robyn but encouraged it. I was able to plant two bugs just now.”
He goes still. “Reed sanctioned this?”
“Yes.” I nod. I’ll let him interrogate me all he wants, and then he’s going to have to answer my questions.
“You didn’t need to fuck her to plant bugs.”
“No, but it did make it a whole lot easier. I’ll get the job done faster and more effectively.”
“You keep telling yourself that.”
“I will,” I snap.
“It’s wrong,” he growls.
I nod. “It is, and I’ve accepted that. I haven’t promised her anything. It’s just fucking.”
“It’s still wrong.”
“You bang a different female every week.”
“Not quite.”
“It’s not far off.”
“At least there are no false pretenses,” he says under his breath. “You’re investigating this female for treason somewhere between your marathon-fucks.”
I swallow hard.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” I ask.
Before he can answer, I shove him, and he staggers, only just holding his feet.
“You want to talk to me about right and wrong. Really?” I snarl. “You?”
“Ridge—”
“You were the one investigating Magma. It was you who got him in this mess!” I point at his face.
He doesn’t say anything for a second. Then he gives me a small nod. “I investigated him, but I didn’t get him into anything. I only agreed to do it because I thought he was innocent. I still do. I told both Reed and Vector as much.”
“He’s your friend…our friend, and we fucked him over.” I have to work to keep my voice down since there’s a security camera at the corner of the building. “He’s your friend, and you took the assignment. How could you?”
“That’s exactly why I took it.” His jaw tightens.
“If I hadn’t, someone else would have. I didn’t think I’d find anything on him, but I did.
I know it’s bullshit. The whole thing is a setup.
Now I have all the information, and I plan on fixing it.
I wouldn’t be in this position if I weren’t in the know.
I’m right, and you fucking know it.” It’s his turn to point at me.
He is right, and I hate that fact.
I still feel like shit over the whole thing.
“It stinks, and that’s why I’m here,” he says. “We need to find a way to prove Magma’s innocence, but I can see that you’re too busy getting your dick wet to help me.”
“It isn’t about that. I’m attracted to Robyn, but that’s all it is. I’m perfectly objective.”
He laughs at me. “Yeah, right.”
“I swear. I do happen to think she’s innocent.”
“There we go.” He spreads his hands. “Case in point.”
“I think all eight are innocent. Not just Dr. Keller. I’m expecting to find dirt on her very soon.
It’ll be at the office, since whoever is doing this no longer has access to her apartment.
Someone tried to break in a few nights ago.
I think it was whoever is framing her. I’m waiting to hear about a set of footprints we took outside.
The evidence, I’m sure I will find, will be at the office in an area that others have access to, but that is predominantly her domain.
It’ll be damning and nicely wrapped up in a neat bow. ”
“Just like Magma.”
“Yes.”
He drags a hand down his mouth.
“Tell me about this evidence on him,” I ask. “There was something about documents taped under his bed.”
“What kind of an amateur would leave documents almost out in the open like that?” Flint asks. “I asked Reed the same question. Got nothing useful back.”
“Magma would never be so damned stupid. Reed mentioned something about a burner.”
“Yep. It was made to look like he had been in contact with someone from the Mainland. Untraceable, of course.”
“Of course. According to Reed, his fingerprints were on the device.”
“Yeah, but here’s the thing…” He pulls in a breath, his eyes on mine. “There was just one set of neat prints. No one else’s. Not multiple sets from the user; in this case, Magma. There was just the one set.”
“If he used the phone multiple times, there should have been multiple sets of prints. They’d all be his and overlapping, but they’d be there.”
“Exactly. It’s weird as fuck. I don’t like it at all. I argued against picking him up, but the Council ruled.”
“It’s a fuck-up.”
“A total fuck-up.” He nods, looking tired. “I heard you tried to see him.”
“They’re not letting us anywhere near him. Not right now, maybe never.”
“It’s a pity, because I need to speak to him.
I need to find out how they got his prints on that phone.
Whether he handled one recently, or one that looked like this one.
It’s a cheap and nasty burner. Not the kind of device he would normally use.
The prints didn’t look like a transfer, either. They were too good to be a transfer.”
In a transfer, someone would take a set of prints from one object and transfer them onto another.
“One of us needs to question him. That’s if Reed allows it.” I sigh and squeeze the back of my neck. “Magma knows I was aware of the investigation and that I said nothing. That means he will never agree to see me,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I heard he’s pissed at you.”
“It was such bad luck. I was there when they picked him up. He could see right through me.” I look at him. “Does he know about you?”
Flint shakes his head. “Not as far as I know. Maybe I’ll get in. I’ll try.”
“Push for it.”
“I will.” He nods.
“Come to me with the findings.”
He nods. “Let me know what you find out about that shoe print and if you get anything on your lady doctor.”
“I will. All I know is that we need to figure out a way to get him cleared.” My mind goes straight to Robyn. She hasn’t been implicated yet, but it’s a matter of time.
I’ll clear her name. Hopefully, I can do it before she’s locked away. I vow to do my level best.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Flint looks up at the apartment block.
“I hope so, too,” I tell him.
He claps me on the shoulder. It’s brief and hard. Then he walks back to his bike and throws a leg over it. The engine kicks. He pulls his helmet on, snaps the visor down, and rolls out of the lot.
I watch him go.
Then I look up at her apartment, feeling like the biggest asshole who ever lived.
She’s going to hate me when she finds out.
It is what it is.