16. Never Mind, You’ll Still Be Disappointed
After getting Mila set up in my penthouse, I went down to Maximo’s office.
Cole was already on the couch with two laptops—one opened on his lap and the other on the coffee table in front of him. He had his screen shared to one of the monitors on Maximo’s stalker wall.
“Hope you’ve got your messages turned off before a sext pops up,” I joked.
“Yeah, that won’t happen,” Cole said with a dismissive laugh. His clenched jaw said he didn’t find it all that amusing.
Huh.
Since the screen next to it showed Juliet in their own penthouse, I asked my boss, “Juliet know we’re watching? Us, not just you.”
Because the one time she hadn’t known, she’d flashed the camera. None of us had seen much, but that hadn’t stopped Maximo from wanting to stab our eyes out.
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d done it after someone looked at Juliet.
“Yeah, she knows. She’s ordering fabric, so she’s unlikely to move in the next four hours or so.” He tapped his pen on the desk. “Your woman going to get in contact? Juliet has been talking about it all morning.”
I lifted a shoulder. “She said she will, but who knows.”
Juliet might have the entire world at her feet now, but she came from almost nothing. It’d been better than Mila had, but not by much. Having someone who got it could be good for Mila. Especially if she lost her mind enough to let me be her Daddy. I would go slow and ease her in, but she would likely still have questions, and it would be helpful to have Juliet.
After Mila told me the pricks had taken her license, I’d texted Cole to see if he could check SafeCams near her apartment in case they had showed up to finish what they’d started.
Despite the fact she lived in an especially shitty area, there’d been none around for him to hack. It’d sat in my gut like a cereal bowl of razor blades and salt water, but I’d thought that was the end. We had nothing else to go on.
My plan had been to give it a few more days while Cole added better security in Mila’s building and her apartment. That way, if she told me to fuck off, her place would be safe to return to while I figured out my next steps.
After checking on her during the night, though, I hadn’t been sure I could hold off even those few days. That was why I’d been glad to wake up to a text from Cole that he might have something.
I looked at the screen he shared. “What’s up?”
“You know me, I don’t accept technological defeat easily, so Marco and I took a drive over to her neighborhood last night to see if there was a doorbell camera or something else I could tap into. Which, first off, her building is even worse than the already bad I expected. Don’t let her go back to that shithole. But diagonal from it is a liquor store. We gently persuaded them to hand over all their exterior security footage in exchange for us staying quiet about what they really sell.”
“What do they really sell?”
He shrugged. “No idea. But even in Vegas, no legit store needs that many 4K res cameras.” He clicked his mouse, and the image on the monitor changed. “This is the only one with a good angle of the front of her building. I wasn’t sure whether you’d rather bring her down here to go through the footage or do it privately.”
I pictured her reaction at dinner. How pale she’d become when she’d gotten lost in her memories.
If just thinking about them had shaken her, I didn’t want to force her to see them. Not unless there was no other option.
I also didn’t want to get her hopes up if nothing came from it.
Since she’d described them to me, I said, “Let’s roll through it first.”
“This is set about twenty minutes before she came into Moonlight. Unless the assholes can teleport, this should cover it.” He tapped a button to roll the footage at an increased speed, slowing it when someone neared her building. It was mostly residents, a few lost tourists, more than a few prostitutes or dealers, and other people walking past.
The later it got, the less frequently he had to slow it. The timestamp showed it was after two o’clock when someone came into view, and I sat forward.
“Go back a few seconds.”
Cole rewound the video until right before he came into frame. I watched as the man looked over his shoulder and then kept his head down as he walked into the building. A couple of minutes later, he exited again.
My gaze kept landing on the timestamp.
If she would’ve gone home… Thank Christ she agreed to stay with me.
“That was an efficient drug deal, lightning-speed sex, or?—”
My gut, the hairs on the back of my neck, and Mila’s vague description all said the same thing I said out loud. “It’s him.”
It was obvious that Mila had been born with shit luck. But that was before me.
Because the angle when he’d entered hadn’t given much to work with, but when he left was a different matter.
Rather than heading back the same way he’d come, he went in the opposite direction.
Right by the cameras.
Cole took a screengrab and cropped it. He grabbed his other computer, his fingers typing rapidly. “Come on. Come on.” It didn’t take long before he whooped. “Got ya, fucker.” He switched back to the laptop with the shared screen just as a text popped into the corner.
Freddy: I’m at Moonlight, where are you?
There was nothing unusual about it, which didn’t explain the frantic way Cole clicked it closed.
Other than a quick look between us, neither Maximo nor I said shit as we pretended we hadn’t seen it.
What everyone did was their own business.
Cole cleared his throat. “Allow me to introduce Edward Zale.” A mug shot popped up of a loser trying to be a tough guy.
“You want to bring this up to Mila to confirm?” Maximo asked.
I shook my head. “That’s him. Edward Zale. Ez. The rest matches her description, too, right down to the tiny-dick energy. Now we just need the partner.”
“I might have him, too.” Cole brought up another mug shot. “His roommate and known associate, Ronald Jacobs.”
“Just as she described him, including the pube mustache.”
“You know, your woman has a real way with words.”
I grinned. “Almost poetic.”
“It’s scary how quick you find this shit,” Maximo said to Cole as he looked between the computers and monitor.
“Where Big Brother has eyes, so do I. And since Big Brother has eyes everywhere…”
“Glad you’re on my side.”
“As you should be.” My phone dinged before Cole told me, “Address is sent.”
Maximo stood. “Then let’s go.”
“Your girl finallytexted mine. Don’t think I’ve ever seen Juliet use so many exclamation points in a single message.”
I glanced at Maximo before returning my focus to the run-down door in the run-down motel that rented rooms by the hour or the week, and nothing between. “Good.”
“Juliet’s already at the pool, and Mila is headed there now.”
I checked my phone. I already knew I hadn’t missed a text, but I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.
It was the least I could do since, if all went right, her cute ass would be paying the price for ignoring my order.
“You got Miles keeping an eye on her?” Maximo asked.
I shook my head as I shot off a text. “He was at Moonlight for the wallet incident, so she’d be uncomfortable. But Marco and Miles both suggested Elliot, so he’s on his way to meet her.”
“Marco is headed out, too.” He gestured around. “Between this and Juliet’s love of mischief, I figured an extra set of eyes would be good.”
Especially since we had no clue how long we’d be sitting there, waiting for Zale and Jacobs to show.
The fact that Maximo was staked out at the Bed Bug Motel with me said a lot about the kind of man he was. None of it was his problem. I was the employee there. Assisting him was my job, not the other way around. He didn’t have to be there. Hell, with all the money he had, he didn’t have to work at all. He could move to an island and sit on the beach all day.
Technically, so could I, but the point was the same.
Maybe I was becoming a sentimental asshole in my old age because I looked over at him and said, “You know… Out of all the bosses in the world, you’re probably not the worst one.”
“Wow,” he deadpanned. “I wish I had that in writing to frame in my office.”
“You’re welcome.”
“We’ll see if you still feel the same when I’ve gotta take a piss in your empty coffee cup.”
I threw my arms up as best as I could in the small space. “Way to ruin a beautiful moment.”
Before Maximo could apologize—or, more likely, try to fire me—my phone beeped.
Marco: Your girl is outside, and she doesn’t look good.
My gut clenched.
Me: Not good how?
Marco: Off. Shaken. Want me to talk to her or should you?
I was pretty sure I knew what was up, but I wouldn’t risk it. I was about to call her when another text came through.
Marco: Never mind, she seems okay. Nervous.
That was exactly what I’d figured.
Me: Let me know if it changes.
A while later, as a whole lot of nothing was happening on our side, Marco was having better luck.
Marco: Juliet is playing wingwoman and grilling Mila about shit she likes. I’m taking notes for you.
Christ, between everything the three of them are doing, a man could almost cry.
Too bad I gotta look like a scary motherfucker, and that’s hard to do with bloodshot eyes and dripping snot.
“I owe your wife,” I said.
“This about Juliet playing investigator? She told me she was going to try.”
“I’ll give her a Get-Out-Of-A-Snitch-Free card.”
“What the fuck?” He lifted his hands. “What happened to your gratitude toward me?”
“Yeah, well, then you threatened to piss in my coffee cup.”
Another message came through, and I expected Marco’s demands for the insider info, but it was Cole.
Cole: Tracked down an active number for Ronald Jacobs. Don’t ask how, and if the FBI comes around, I was with you.
Cole: Location Loading
When the map loaded, I turned my phone toward Maximo. “The only way this could’ve gotten easier is if they were at a Black Resorts property.”
He might’ve smiled, but there was nothing cheerful about it.
Nothing but luck.
Maximo made some calls while I drove us back to Moonlight. I was already headed through the gaming floor on my way to see Mila when Marco called.
I hit answer. “What’s?—”
“Your girl is talking to her tail, and she doesn’t look happy. Want me to intervene?”
“I’m twenty seconds away.”
“Might want to book it. She’s about to run.”
I clicked off and grinned.
Like I said…
Nothing but luck.