Chapter 26
Micah was beyond annoyed right now, but Cormac was being beyond weird so he’d left the safe house to meet up with him. He knew it wasn’t a trap—his brothers and sisters would never betray him or each other.
There were few things he knew on a bone-deep level and that was one of them.
But it didn’t negate the fact that something about Cormac’s recent texts had felt off. So before steering into the parking lot of their meetup destination, a quiet park downtown, he pulled into the empty library parking lot. Then he texted Cormac. Want me to grab some pepperoni pizza?
Pepperoni pizza was a code phrase for the entire family that meant distress. They had other code words and phrases as well, but this was the easiest to use.
A few seconds later, Cormac texted back. Oh my god, I’m not in distress. Hurry up.
Okay, then. Feeling that invisible band around his chest loosen, he pulled out and headed down the next couple blocks. He was still cautious when he got out, scanning the equally empty parking lot—Cormac must have parked elsewhere.
He found his brother perched on the edge of the merry-go-round, but he stood as Micah approached, tension practically rolling off him.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly, looking him over from head to toe. Because he knew Cormac wouldn’t have demanded to meet in person when he knew that Micah was dealing with his own stuff. Right now he wanted to be at the safe house with Clover.
“Why do you have this?” Cormac thrust out one of the pictures from the stash Clover had taken from Louis Cain.
The 8x10 glossy was of a judge’s clerk and a woman with her head tilted down and away from the camera.
Using one of his search engines, there hadn’t been enough of her face showing to find out who she was.
The picture had likely been taken in a winter month, given their cold weather gear.
Another reason it was hard to figure out who she was.
She’d been wearing a toque that covered her ears.
Even so, he could see that she had dark hair and sharp cheekbones.
“That’s an open-ended question. Do you mean this picture in particular, or all the pictures you took down for me? Also, any sign of the Feds at my place?”
“Please, I would have told you if I’d seen them. And this picture. Why do you have it?” Cormac’s expression was as intense as his body language.
“It’s part of something I’m looking into.
” He didn’t bring his family into his jobs unless absolutely necessary.
Plausible deniability was always a good thing.
Though Cormac had briefly worked undercover before he’d realized that wasn’t the career for him.
For a multitude of reasons. Now he was just trying to figure his life out.
When he didn’t continue, Cormac kept watching him. Micah had learned long ago that the way to get answers was to just be silent. His brother knew that too. But right now, Cormac was desperate for info in a way that Micah had never seen. What was going on?
“Details,” Cormac demanded.
“Is this about the woman in the picture?” It had to be. Couldn’t be about the random clerk.
Cormac’s jaw tightened. “Daniela,” he murmured, more to himself than Micah. “What’s she involved in?”
And that’s how you gather intel, he thought to himself, a little too smugly. Sometimes staying quiet and letting others talk was the best way to learn what you wanted. “I honestly don’t know. This picture was part of a cache I found. It’s not high priority for me with…everything else going on.”
Cormac nodded slowly, then let out a long puff of air.
“Who is she to you?” he asked quietly.
“No one anymore,” Cormac finally said.
“Do you love her?” He really needed better boundaries. But this was his brother so he was invested in whatever this was.
Cormac’s green eyes, so similar to his own, flashed hot. “Mind your business.”
Exasperation punched through him. “You literally called me here. You made this my business.” And Cormac’s reaction was confirmation all by itself.
His brother’s jaw tightened and he tucked the picture away. “We’re done talking about this. Do you need anything? Berkley was quiet about what’s going on.”
Even though he normally would have pushed on something like this, now wasn’t the time.
He needed to get back to Clover more than anything, but no way was he letting this go.
He’d never seen his brother react like this about a woman.
Ever. “I’m good. For now. I might need you for a little breaking and entering later. ”
Cormac’s eyes lit up. “I’m in. Just let me know when. Also, you didn’t ask, but your house is cleaned up. Nothing relating to whatever you’re working on is there. You sure you don’t want me to pick up your laptop?”
“Nah. It’s my cover laptop.” If his place was ever raided for whatever reason, they’d find nothing but boring activities on that particular laptop. It would keep them chasing down nonsense.
“Cover laptop,” Cormac muttered, his mouth pulling up into a ghost of a smile. “You’re the most paranoid bastard I know.”
Micah just shrugged. Paranoia was the reason he was alive. “Call me if you need anything.”
After a quick hug, which was more of a clap on the back, Micah headed back to the parking lot while Cormac strode off in the other direction.
Micah scanned his car for trackers before getting in, because his brother was right about him being paranoid.
Paranoia had saved his life more times than he wanted to think about. His own family probably didn’t realize how many trackers he had for all of them—on their vehicles, in their phones… Yeah, he didn’t have many boundaries.
But he protected those close to him and he wouldn’t apologize for it. On the chance someone had followed Cormac for whatever reason and then followed Micah, he took a circuitous route as he headed back to Clover and the others.
Once he was certain he didn’t have a tail, he headed back to the safe house. Even then, he parked in the garage of the house behind it and used the connected backyards to slip into the house unseen.
Damn, maybe paranoid was an understatement at this point.
It was close to midnight by the time he finally stepped into the kitchen. After disarming, then rearming the security system, he headed straight for the room he and Clover would be sharing.
He might have told his sister to just throw Clover’s bags in with his, all casual, and ignored the frown he’d gotten from Nick. Whatever. He was keeping Clover close to him. Hopefully in more ways than one.
When he eased the door open and stepped inside, he froze.
She was still awake. Propped up against the headboard, a book in her lap, she smiled at him.
Only one dim lamp was on, but he could see her dark hair was loose around her shoulders, her face free of makeup and she had on one of those puffy headband things again. This one was bright pink.
She was so gorgeous it almost hurt to look at her. And she’d been waiting up for him.
“Hey, you didn’t have to wait up.” He shut the door behind him, trying not to focus on the fact that she was in the same bed he’d be getting in soon.
“I wouldn’t have been able to sleep with you out there. Is everything okay with your brother?” She yawned and slipped the headband off, setting it on the nightstand along with her book. Then she ran her hands through her hair.
And all he could think about was running his own fingers through it, cupping the back of her head the same way he’d done once. One kiss and he’d been done.
Everything about this was so domestic and normal—and at odds with the hunger rushing through him. He’d wanted her for so long it seemed impossible that he was about to be in that bed with her.
“Yeah. He was being weird…” As he stripped off his jacket and put his things up, he recounted their conversation.
Cormac hadn’t asked him to keep anything a secret, and if he was being honest, Micah liked bringing Clover into this part of his life.
He wanted to tell her everything, found himself having to hold back from texting her too often with little things.
“Sounds like she means something to him. And now we have a name. Daniela. Since we know where that law clerk lives, maybe they’re in the same town. You can do a deep dive of all the Danielas in that town.”
He half grinned and let his head roll back, stretching his neck. He loved the way her mind worked. And he’d already planned to do just that. Now that he had a first name, finding out who the woman was had just gotten much easier. “Let’s get through this first and then I’ll spy on my brother.”
She snickered and stretched out on the bed. He forced himself not to stare at her long, lean legs. “If you want to shower, feel free. Now that you’re here I can actually sleep. I was too keyed up to sleep before.”
Her words hit him right in the chest. He loved that she felt safe around him, especially knowing her past with men now. How anyone had ever cheated on her was a mystery. The man who’d been dumb enough to fumble her had done him a favor though. Because he couldn’t walk away from Clover.
“You’re sure you don’t mind us sharing a bed?” He was already in his head about it, trying not to obsess about the fact that Clover Storm would be stretched out next to him the entire night. Only inches away.
She made a scoffing sound. “We’re both adults, Micah.” Then she dimmed the lamp and flopped down on the pillow, giving him her back.
Okay, then. Fuuuck. He was about to share a bed with Clover Storm. The woman of all his fantasies.
But she was right. They were both adults. And he did need a shower. Mostly to cool down. Because he couldn’t act like some randy teenager right now. She deserved better than that.
He didn’t take long to shower, though the heat from the jets helped loosen the tightness in his back muscles.
Somewhat.
Okay not at all.