Chapter 5 #2
She swallowed and pushed that thought from her mind. Of course he cared. He wasn’t a monster. He’d offer the same thing to a complete stranger, and their history together naturally made him softer toward her. No doubt he felt a modicum of guilt.
She caught his fingers and moved them away from her collarbone to rest at his side. She reached for her sweater at the end of the bed and threaded her arms through the sleeves. “I have to go, Brock. If all goes well, I can just hand over the flash drive and we can be on our way.”
He snorted. “I hope you’re right.”
Gray clouds dotted the sky but the sun dominated it.
A lone sailboat rocked in the lake. In the passenger seat, Dani turned her attention to Brock’s large form, which ate up more than his share of the vehicle.
His arm rested on the console between their seats, his legs stretched in front of him, and his left hand hung loosely around the top of the steering wheel.
She dragged her gaze down the length of him and back up.
God, he was sexy. His brown hair was wavier than usual today, probably from lack of hair product, like hers.
He squinted at the road, his jaw set, listening to the GPS’s directions.
He wasn’t happy about her accompanying him.
Tough shit. This was her gig, not his responsibility. She couldn’t shy away even if she wanted to.
He flicked the turn signal and hung a right. “What are you staring at?” A smile played at his mouth and she snapped her gaze to the road.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Her mind worked at warp speed. No way in hell she was going to tell him she was thinking about how hot he was. “I just find it funny, that’s all.”
He shot her a look. “What’s funny?”
“That you’re a thief. I mean, don’t take that the wrong way—we both are. But looking at you, no one would suspect you steal from criminals.”
“Who said I still do that?”
She inhaled a breath and stared. He got out?
“We’re here.” He pulled to a stop along the river. At this time of day, no tourists crowded the weathered cobblestone street. Plus it was the off-season, so the city was much quieter than it would have been in the summer months.
A white Honda idled ahead of them. Sven’s finger-length blond hair caught her eye. “It’s him. I’ll be right back.” She unbuckled her seatbelt, but Brock’s hand circled her wrist.
He scanned the river and the street then wet his lips. “I’m coming with you.”
“Don’t be silly—”
“It’s not negotiable.” He flung his seatbelt off and stepped out of the car.
She wrestled back a curse and climbed out.
Her plan to tell Sven that Brock was her Uber driver had just gone to shit.
Brock waited at the hood of the car and then fell into step with her as she approached the Honda.
Sven’s head was tilted back on the headrest; aviator shades covered his eyes.
Something dark covered the left shoulder of his light gray sweater.
She frowned and moved closer. Glass crunched beneath her shoes.
Brock snapped his hand out and caught her elbow. “Get back,” he said. She pushed past him and advanced on the blown-out driver’s side window. Blood covered the side of Sven’s head, and the contents of his skull decorated the passenger’s seat.
Dani’s stomach heaved as the warm scent of raw flesh swarmed into her eyes and nose.
Sven’s mouth hung open slackly and his eyes, now visible through the sunglasses, stared off toward the sky.
Black ink poked out from above his shirt collar on his neck—a new tattoo?
But before she could get a closer look, Brock lifted her off her feet and away from Sven’s dead body.
“Oh my god, oh my god . . .” She gagged again.
The wall of muscle at her back bunched and flexed with every step.
A deep tremble rattled her shoulders, chattering her teeth.
She closed her eyes and focused on guiding one breath after another into her lungs.
Brock lowered her feet to the ground and she turned to face him.
He kept his grip on her hips and the breadth of his body blocked her sight line.
“Get in. We’re going.” He moved her toward their vehicle.
She stood firm and pushed against his unrelenting abs. “No. We have to see if there’s something to lead us to who hired him.”
The muscles around Brock’s chin clenched. “Sit.” He nodded at the passenger’s seat. “I’ll go.”
Part of her wanted to argue and insist she could search Sven’s pockets herself, but she had to admit she’d rather Brock take the lead on that one.
Holding the door for support, she lowered herself into the seat on shaky legs.
Brock shut the door and jogged to Sven’s car.
She watched as he rummaged through the driver’s side window and then moved to the passenger’s side.
He returned to the car and got in holding a cell phone.
“I used his thumb to unlock his phone,” he said.
He tapped the screen a few times and then placed his thumb on it repeatedly.
“There. I just changed the fingerprint to mine.” He passed the device to her.
“That’s all there was. His wallet is gone, so I think they searched his pockets and maybe took his encrypted phone.
I found this one under the seat. It must have fallen. ”
Dani stared at the screen. Time to get some answers.