Chapter 3
“How long do you think we have to stay?” Clover murmured as she stood in front of the bonfire, the sound of the waves crashing in between the beat of the speaker playing in the background. Apparently the strip club plans had fallen through—something she was thankful for—in favor of a beach party.
Micah stood next to her, hands in his pockets as he relaxed, the crash of the ocean waves a pleasant background. “Five more minutes.”
Yeah, that seemed about right. They’d been at this coworker thing for about two hours and it was a lot bigger than she’d expected.
Someone’s parents or grandparents owned a house right on Wrightsville Beach and had invited about thirty people.
To give them credit, no one was being loud or obnoxious.
She was pretty sure the two houses on either side of the one they were partying at were empty, likely busy rentals in the summer.
Even so, people were just drinking, hooking up, and some were lounging by the pool.
Or passed out, she wasn’t sure at this point.
“I’ll hold your hand, make it look like we’re going to go hook up.” She dumped her drink since no one seemed to be paying attention. No sense in nursing it anymore.
Nyla was sitting in some guy’s lap on one of the chaise lounges, not paying them any attention.
“Good plan.” Micah slid his arms around her shoulders and she felt his touch all the way to her core. She liked the feel of him holding her close, had to remind herself that she couldn’t get used to this.
But she turned into him, wrapping her arms around him as she played her part.
Though let’s be real, she wasn’t acting. No one would question them leaving together to hook up.
He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Nyla’s watching us,” he murmured. “She’s grinning so she’s definitely buying it. I say we leave now.”
“Let’s go,” she whispered, pulling back slightly.
He took her hand in his, linking their fingers as they walked around the bonfire.
The sand was cold under her bare feet, the wind steady, but she loved this time of year at the beach.
Loved the chill in the air, the scent of salt.
Years ago when her brother had first gotten his driver’s license, he’d sometimes taken her on long drives to get away from their dad.
More often than not, they’d ended up at one of the many beaches along the North Carolina coast.
Clover waved at Nyla, who just grinned. “See you tomorrow,” she called out.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”
I wish.
She snickered, shaking her head, and kept ahold of Micah’s hand all the way past the back of the house where most of the people were partying. Until he walked her to the passenger side of his truck.
“Okay, we’ve got maybe twenty minutes to drive there,” she said when he got in the driver’s seat. “And as soon as you disable the security and cameras, I say we go straight for his office and get to work.”
“I know the plan.” His tone was dry. “We’ve got to be careful though. I don’t like—”
“If you say you don’t like bringing me with you…well I don’t know what I’ll do. But I don’t want to hear it.”
“I’ve done this kind of stuff before.”
“Are you under the impression that I haven’t been involved in any B&Es?” She sniffed. Please.
He shot her a surprised look before he pulled away from the curb.
It was two in the morning so there wouldn’t be much traffic on the road now thankfully.
“Are you just going to leave me hanging?” he asked after a few long beats.
She lifted a shoulder. “When I was in college I might have broken into a couple frat houses.”
“Why?”
“Well the first time was because this asshole stole my friend’s purse after a date.
Actually stole her damn purse. And it was Prada.
So while we were getting it back, I also took his stash of drugs—pills mostly, but also a lot of coke.
” She snickered at the memory. “I tossed the drugs, then someone made an anonymous call about all the cocaine in that place. They ended up getting shut down. And let me just say, we did the campus a favor because of the parties they had there. So many women ended up roofied and…” She cleared her throat.
“I wasn’t expecting that, but I’m impressed. But you said the first time. How many times were there?”
“Six…no, seven. Because if you take from or hurt my friends, I will come for you. I like to call it Storm Justice.”
“Pretty sure I’m going to recruit you,” he murmured.
“Will you teach me how to jam Wi-Fi signals and disable security systems? Because I already know how to pick locks. And I’m pretty sure with the right boots on, I could bust in some doors.”
His mouth kicked up and he shook his head slightly, but he said, “You’re a menace.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Fine, yes. I’ll teach you some stuff.”
Okay, then. “Do you know how to hot-wire cars? Old ones, I mean. Because I know it’s impossible on newer ones.”
“Yes to old ones, and I know how to hack some newer vehicles as well.”
“Oooh, I want to learn that too.”
“You’re too eager. I feel like you’d be an absolute terror to the community at large,” he muttered as he turned down the two-lane highway that led to The Laughing Llama.
No one was on the road this late, but he pulled off about half a mile from the bar and parked far enough off the road that no one would see his truck unless they knew exactly where it was.
They were both quiet as they hurried down the gravel path to the bar and restaurant.
Micah had something in his hand that was supposed to disrupt the Wi-Fi signal, which would make it easier for him to disable the security and camera systems. She hadn’t been kidding about wanting to learn how to do that stuff either.
But he was definitely right—she would be a menace. For good, of course. And maybe a little mischief too. She was an Aries after all.
“Okay we’re good,” he whispered as he shut his laptop and slid it back into his slim backpack.
They’d changed into dark clothing so they blended into the shadows as they hurried up to the front door of the bar. Wearing gloves, she pulled out an old lock pick kit she hadn’t used in years and got to work.
It was most definitely like riding a bike. She had it open in fifteen seconds.
Moving slowly, she opened the door and waited. Silence.
“Told you the system was off,” he murmured.
“Just being cautious.”
Once they were inside, she slid the lock back into place and they both headed for the office.
It required her to pick another lock, this one heavier duty than the front door.
Which seemed ridiculous. It also told her that Louis had stuff to hide in his office.
(Or he was just being smart considering this was a bar. Whatever.)
Thirty seconds later, they were inside.
“Head lamps only,” he whispered, clicking on his head lamp.
She did the same.
“And if I say run, we run.”
“I’ve already said yes to all this. I don’t want to get caught.” She just wanted to find her friend. It was now after two in the morning on Sunday and Louis was supposed to be back sometime Monday.
This was their only chance to do this without having to deal with his security, or Cain himself.
“I’m going to start with the computers,” Micah said, motioning to the desk.
“I’ve got the filing cabinets.” She moved fast, first looking for anything taped up under the drawers or secret compartments.
She was actually surprised when she found something on the third filing cabinet she checked.
A false panel popped off into her hand and she found a slim manila envelope taped on the metal.
There was a small bulge so it wasn’t just papers or pictures.
Carefully, so not to rip the tape, she peeled it off, feeling as if time was moving backward as she slowly worked… finally. The envelope was open.
Inside was a USB stick and large 8x10 photographs… Huh.
She flipped through the images of what was essentially people screwing, but didn’t recognize any of them. She sat them on the desk next to Micah, who scanned them, his expression barely changing.
But he said, “I recognize one of the men. He’s a judge. And that’s not his wife he’s got bent over the railing.”
Ah. Blackmail material. “I’ll scan them,” she whispered and set the USB down, knowing he’d make a copy of the contents. He’d brought a plethora of tools in that backpack of his, including a gadget that scanned fingerprints.
The man was certainly prepared.
She had no idea what they were going to do with the photographs but she could at least do an image search later and see who the rest of the people in them were.
Using an app on her phone, she scanned the photos as quickly as possible. By the time she was done, he’d copied the contents of the USB so she put everything back where she’d found it. She was pretty sure she’d kept the photos in order, but hoped Cain didn’t have their arrangement memorized.
Once she was done, she started flipping through his actual files, but it was all work receipts and a few personal ones. Nothing that led her to think he had Ilena stashed away somewhere.
Or had like…a murder house or something.
God, it had probably been pointless to come here.
But she hated giving up, and her gut was telling her that Ilena was in trouble.
She’d fallen off the face of the earth after doing shady work for Cain and now had no digital trail in the last couple months.
That wasn’t normal. Something had happened to her and the last place she’d been seen was at The Laughing Llama.
Clover hadn’t even known her that long, but she’d genuinely liked Ilena, had bonded to her. Felt a kinship that she didn’t often feel with others. Especially since Ilena had helped her… She froze.
At the sound of tires on gravel, she straightened, shut her head lamp off. There was only one window in the office but it faced the rear of the bar. She wouldn’t be able to see who’d arrived.
But she could at least open it while Micah shut down the computers.
She strained against the window, frowning when it wouldn’t budge. “It’s nailed shut,” she finally muttered.
Damn it. Of course it was.
“Come on.” Micah stood by the office door, cracking it open to the sound of laughter in the bar.
Heart in her throat, she moved up behind him, trying to calm her racing heart. They’d been careful, but she hadn’t brought a mask with her.
“We shouldn’t be in here,” a female voice said, followed by more laughter.
Clover recognized the voice as one of the other servers. Jemma.
“No one will know.” Oh, that was Jon.
Okay, then. They were hooking up.
“Let’s raid the fridge!” More laughter from Jemma, then the sound of the kitchen door swinging open with a bang.
“Now.” Micah stepped out, shutting the office door behind him.
Heart still a staccato beat in her chest, she moved in step with him down a long hallway toward the back of the place. They’d be able to get away clean at least.
Even if they’d found nothing about Ilena, maybe they could work with what they had found. Soon enough she’d know if Micah had discovered anything on Cain’s computers. And maybe they could somehow utilize those photographs to get Cain to talk.
She had no idea how, but Micah seemed like he would have experience in that kind of thing.
He definitely lived in shades of gray, that much she knew.
Maybe it was weird, but she liked that about him.
She’d always dated straitlaced boring guys and he was the exact opposite.
Not that she was thinking about dating him. Nope.
As they reached the back exit, he motioned with his hands that he was going to open the door, then they were to head straight back to the woods. Just like she figured.
She nodded.
A blast of chilly wind hit them as they stepped out onto the wooden deck. They raced down the wheelchair access ramp and rounded the edge of the bar only to stop short.
Nyla was coming toward them, looking down at her phone as she walked. But she glanced up and froze when she saw them. Frowned. “What the hell are you two doing here?”