Chapter 10
Micah stared for a long moment, just drinking in the sight of Clover in his living room. She’d set up an oversized board and must have been awake for hours, given all the little Post-it notes she’d written on and placed next to various pictures. “You’ve been busy,” he murmured.
She let out a little yelp and whipped around. “Didn’t realize you were awake. Coffeepot is fresh. Just made a new one.”
He blinked. “A new one? How early did you get up?” It was only six. He’d stayed up until one researching and had finally crashed. But the smell of coffee had woken him up. Apparently this was the second pot.
“Four. I woke up, couldn’t turn my brain off so I just started working on this.” She shrugged and turned back to the board. Her pajamas were a long-sleeved green and navy-blue plaid set with little ruffles at the cuffs that should have looked like grandma pj’s but…she still looked gorgeous.
He was pretty sure that was simply her default setting. God, he was so done for her. There was no coming back at this point. She was under his skin, and even if—when—he got his heart broken, he was pretty sure it would be worth it.
Her long dark hair was in a braid and she had on one of those thick headband things he’d seen Berkley wearing around her house after she’d washed off her makeup.
“I’m going to grab a cup. You want anything? I’ve got…day-old muffins I think.”
“You have nothing in your fridge that interests me,” she said in a disgusted tone—but with a smile. “Except for your coffee creamer. You have excellent taste.”
Yeah, that brown sugar flavor was the best. “You’re the one who recommended it to me.”
“Exactly.” Again with the cheeky grin before she turned around and put another Post-it note up.
Laughing under his breath, he plucked up her empty mug and refreshed hers before making one for himself. After that first sip, he could focus.
He eyed the board, looking at the little notes she’d made.
Through a facial recognition program he wasn’t supposed to have access to, he’d already discovered the names of most of the people in the photographs Louis Cain had been holding on to.
There were a few people he couldn’t get a bead on because not enough of their faces were visible.
The USB drive had contained a bunch of spreadsheets, all in code.
Not encrypted, but still coded. Micah was fairly certain the code was covering up payouts for…
whatever. Blackmail, likely. Blackmail and favors.
This wasn’t a priority for him, but he could admit he was curious now that Cain was on his radar.
He wanted to know what the man was up to.
“Not sure how important any of this is, but I made notes for anything on social media that looked interesting about them. Four of these guys belong to the same country club so I noted that. It’s mostly just stuff like that.” She sat on the couch, sighed as she took a sip of her coffee.
He sat on the other side, eyed the board instead of staring at her like he wanted to.
But it was too early to get caught up in watching her.
His favorite pastime. And they needed to focus on Ilena anyway.
“I discovered a little more about Betty Anne Kendrick last night.” The owner of the homestead that he and Clover had followed Mosker and Ilena to last night.
“She’s living in Florida?”
He shot her a surprised glance. “Yeah. Her financials show that she’s been there for the last year.”
“She’s living with one of her daughters. I found an old post on social media called ‘moving day.’” She lifted a shoulder, but looked pleased with herself.
“That’s solid intel. If you ever decide to change professions…”
“I’ll hit you up for a job if I do.”
He would give her any job she wanted. Just as soon as the thought popped into his head, he shut it down. He needed to focus on the case at hand. Not on the way Clover’s bottom lip looked perpetually pouty or how much he wanted to claim her mouth with his. And he wouldn’t stop there.
“What else did you find out about Betty Anne?” she asked, cutting into his thoughts.
“She’s receiving monthly payments from a nephew, a Chance Kendrick.
A little more than I’d expect for rent. Said nephew is also paying the electric bills for her property, so he could be renting it from her but that feels doubtful.
He owns a condo in Wrightsville. He could be renting his aunt’s place out to Mosker…
or he could have it on a rental program. ”
“Is the house listed on VRBO or any local rental place?”
“No. Or not that I could find.”
Frowning, she took another sip of her coffee. “So when do we do recon of the place?”
“As soon as I shower.”
She stretched and stood. “Yeah, I need to shower too actually.”
“I didn’t want to say anything…”
“Hey!” She tossed a throw pillow at him that he barely ducked. “I do not smell.”
She smelled amazing, but he kept that thought to himself as he stood and ducked another missile she tossed at him.
He was about to be trapped in his truck with her for a while so he needed to keep his mind on the job.
Maybe if he repeated that to himself enough, he could actually focus.
***
“It’s a little terrifying how much you can see with the drone.” Clover watched as Micah maneuvered the device, the image on the screen crystal clear.
“To be fair, this is next-gen stuff. You should really be terrified about what in your life can be hacked to spy on you.” He said the words almost distractedly.
“Are you spying on me?”
“What, no!” He glanced at her, frowned. Then his expression relaxed when he realized she was joking. “I would never violate your privacy,” he added.
“I know, I just wanted to get a reaction. Also, don’t think I didn’t notice that you said you wouldn’t, not that you couldn’t.”
He grinned, taking him from just regular handsome to “oh my god, I want to sit on your face” handsome. Which she did, not that she’d ever say anything to him. His sister was engaged to her brother.
And fine, she wasn’t going to risk getting her heart destroyed by him. She could only imagine how awkward that would make family events. She wouldn’t do that to Nick.
Or myself.
The last man she’d trusted had blown up her entire life, all because she’d been stupid enough to trust him.
“So, like…what kinds of things can you hack?”
“Generally?” He maneuvered the controls and she watched as the screen—the drone—dipped lower toward a barnlike structure.
They were parked on the side of the road a couple miles from the address they’d tracked Ilena to last night. Though as the crow flew, they were a lot closer, so he’d been able to get to the location faster with the drone than if they’d driven.
“I guess, yeah. But also, specifically at my house.”
“Well since I’ve only ever been in your living room and kitchen… Your TV, that fancy refrigerator, your laptop, and—”
“Oh my god, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“To be fair, I’m skilled so it’s not like you have to worry about randos hacking into your stuff. I added another layer of security to your smart system anyway.”
She blinked. “What?”
He lifted a shoulder. “We’re going to be family. Oh, you also need to upgrade your security system. The one you have is fine, but you should have something better.”
Family. Ugh, another reminder. He wasn’t wrong, but still. “I’ll put that on my to-do list,” she murmured, never intending to upgrade. Her system was fine and she lived in a safe neighborhood.
“I’ve already put in a call to someone… Check it out.” He chin-nodded to the screen.
She wanted to ask who he’d called about a security system, but hoped he’d just drop it. Her system was solid. “What is this place?”
There were two trucks parked outside some kind of barn. But as he flew the drone lower, she saw that there were an excessive amount of security cameras and a bunch of rifles in the back of both pickup trucks.
“It’s just a guess, but this might be a grow house.”
“Yeah?”
He kept the drone relatively high, but then the camera zoomed in suddenly. “Look at the windows. They’re all sealed off with aluminum foil. That combined with the security cameras and the weapons.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen enough grow houses to recognize them.”
She wanted to ask more about why he’d seen enough grow houses, but held back. “So…Ilena is into growing drugs?” She’d never given off that vibe. Though she had delivered “packages” for Cain. From the sound of it, she’d done it to make fast cash, likely because of her ex. Or not-ex. Whatever.
“No. Or not necessarily. This place is about four miles from where the station wagon is parked but it’s still part of Betty Anne’s property.”
“Oh, why didn’t you say so?”
He snorted softly. “I’m telling you now.
I just spotted this place as I flew overhead to get a feel for the land and wanted to check it out.
If Betty Anne’s nephew—I’m just going to call him by his name.
If Chance is letting these growers use her place, or using it himself, it would explain the monthly deposits she’s receiving from him. ”
“Let’s find the station wagon.” She wanted to try and get eyes on Ilena. And at the end of the day, she didn’t care about a grow op. Just her friend.
He moved quickly and she had to look away from the screen because the sudden movement made her nauseous. She turned back when he said, “Here we go.”
The drone’s position gave them a clear eagle-eye view of Betty Anne’s home. There were rose bushes around the front porch, blooming even in the cold.
More importantly, the station wagon was there and so were two men.
“Can you get closer?” she whispered, then rolled her eyes at herself. No one was around and they were in the front seat of his truck anyway.
“Hold on. I want to make sure they don’t have any cameras pointing upward,” he murmured. “And if I get too low, they’ll hear us.”
Yeah, she knew that. She was just feeling impatient.
Slowly the drone started descending, giving them a view of the back of the house. A wraparound porch surrounded the entire two-story home, but what she found interesting was a window on the top floor. “There’s aluminum foil covering that window.”
“Could be to keep out the sun, but yeah, that’s weird.” He moved around the entire house in a slow sweep and sure enough, there were no other windows covered.
The two men talking had gone back inside, and there was no more movement.
Micah kept the drone hovering over the house for another hour until the battery indicator started to blink, letting them know it needed a recharge.
“I’ve got another drone, but it makes more sense to go in on foot,” Micah said as he started flying it back to them.
“Agreed.”
“You’re not coming with me. And before you argue, I have experience with this kind of thing.
Apparently you do too, but B&Es into places you were familiar with isn’t the same.
And we don’t know how many men are in there.
But there are at least three since neither of the men on-screen were Mosker, and they’re probably armed.
I can’t do recon that close to a place if I’m worrying about you. ”
“Feels a little sexist, but I agree with you.”
He glanced at her, surprise flickering in his green eyes.
“What?”
“I just expected an argument.”
“I’ll save that for another time. I know Ilena is alive, so…” She shrugged. “Now I just want to know if she needs help escaping the guy she’s with. If she does, I’m going to help her. I’ve already reached out to a friend who helps run a women’s shelter, told her I might need her expertise.”
“Good.” He paused, then said, “I have some contacts in that area as well.”
“Good to know.” She wanted to ask more questions, but wasn’t even surprised.
He cleared his throat. “I know I said recon is done better during the day, but I won’t infiltrate the place until tonight.
Or early tomorrow morning, technically. People are statistically more likely to be sleeping or in rest mode around three a.m. It’s the perfect time.
I want to get eyes on Ilena, see what type of situation she’s in on the ground.
If it’s bad and I can convince her to escape, I will. ”
“I get that I’m not going in with you, but you need backup.”
“I know, I’m going to call my brothers in for this one.”
“Not Krystal?”
He snorted softly. “Nope. I never want to put her in the shitty position of knowing I’ve committed a crime.” He paused. “Unless absolutely necessary.”
A few minutes later, the drone was back. It took him another few minutes to pack everything up. When they pulled out onto the road, flashing blue and red lights lit up behind them.
Her heart rate jacked up until Micah sighed.
“It’s just Krystal.”
She turned around in her seat, squinted against the sunlight. “You’re sure?”
“Yep.” His tone was unreadable as he rolled down his window.
Sure enough, Krystal strode up to the driver’s side, smiled at both of them. “Hey you. Surprised to see you. What are you two doing out here in… Oh god, never mind.” For a moment she looked horrified, clearly thinking they were getting naked or something.
“Oh, we weren’t—”
“We absolutely were,” Micah said, his smile more than obnoxious.
“Ugh. You’re disgusting.” She looked at Clover. “Not you, hon. But my brother absolutely is. I’ll see you on Sunday though. You’re invited over for family dinner too, Clover. Even if your taste in men is terrible.”
“Hey!” Micah sounded mildly offended.
“You know I’m just kidding. Of all my brothers, he’s my favorite.” She looked past him to Clover.
“She’s lying. Apollo is her favorite.”
“To be fair, Apollo never snuck out of the house—”
“That you know of.”
She cleared her throat as she continued. “Or hacked into his high school to change his friend’s grades.”
Clover wanted to be surprised, but that tracked with what she knew about Micah.
“Stop telling all my secrets,” he muttered. “And we’ve got somewhere to be.”
“Fine, I’m almost off work anyway. Saw you pulling out and thought I’d say hey.”
“Everything good with work?”
“Yep. Just wrapped up a pretty big case and luckily today all my calls were finished quickly. With no paperwork,” she added.
The two of them talked for a few more minutes until Krystal finally left.
Clover smacked his bicep, tried not to admire it.
“Did you really have to imply that we were like…doing whatever in the woods?” She couldn’t say having sex.
Because then that made her think about being naked with him.
Which she did far too often. And lately she hadn’t been getting any vibes from him anyway.
Maybe he wasn’t into her. It was good if he wasn’t. Another lie she told herself.
Looking completely unapologetic, he shrugged as he pulled out onto the road. “It was a good excuse and one she’ll try her hardest not to think about.”
“I guess.”
“No, it’s good. I know my sister. If I told her the truth…” He shook his head. “The less she knows the better.”
He was probably right, but still.
Part of her wished he’d been telling the truth.