Chapter 5
Chapter Five
W hat a damn waste.
Brynn was tired to the bone as she left the crime scene. The victim’s body was long gone, and she thought of the devastated family.
Her stomach cramped. That poor girl. Her poor loved ones.
Brynn rubbed her temple. She’d worked all day, then gone to the Wanderers party, and now she’d seen a young woman’s life extinguished forever.
Anger was a low simmer in her veins, but she was too tired to deal with it tonight. She needed to get home and crash. She’d find an officer to give her a lift.
She ducked under the tape and saw Vander leaning against his sleek SUV.
She felt a funny sensation in her chest. She realized she always would. Vander Norcross would always pack a punch, no matter how many times she saw him.
“You didn’t have to hang around.”
He had his ankles crossed and his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I’ll drop you home.”
Too tired to argue, she just nodded.
“How are the kids at the hospital?”
“Looks like they’ll make it.”
He brushed past her as he opened the door of the SUV. He still smelled of his ocean cologne, mixed with his male scent. It was a nice change from the stench of vomit.
“You all right?” he asked.
“No. Seeing a young person, who had their life ahead of them, cut short…” Anger swelled and she shook her head. “It gets to me. Sarah will never graduate college, or fall in love, or walk down the aisle on her father’s arm, or have children.”
“You told me you can’t save them all.”
“No, I can’t, but I know her now. Her face. Her lost dreams. So, I’ll mourn her and get her justice.”
He shifted closer, and she pressed a hand to his chest. Her brain was foggy from the tiredness.
“I don’t have the energy to deal with you right now, Norcross.”
“I know.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Guess you’ll just have to let me look after you and get you home.”
“Fine. But no funny business.” She climbed in.
“Funny business?”
“Yes, with your clever mouth, and sexy, hard body.”
He gave her a slow smile. “You think I’m clever and sexy?”
Oh, shit . She needed to stop talking. She looked straight ahead, out the windshield. “I’m really tired. You can’t trust what I say right now. But I’m pretty certain you know what you look like, and how good you can kiss.”
He made an amused sound.
Brynn closed her eyes. “I’m going to stop talking now.”
He circled the vehicle and climbed into the driver’s seat. He smoothly pulled out onto the street.
She opened up one eye to watch him. He had strong hands, and he drove in that easy, competent way that was so sexy.
She realized those hands had taken lives, and protected lives. They were hands that she really, really wanted to feel on her skin.
Shit . She really needed some sleep.
The next thing she knew, hands were touching her. She jerked, forming a fist.
“Easy there, Detective. Time to wake up. We’re at your place.”
“I wasn’t asleep.” She looked into Vander’s face. He was leaning over the center console and unclipping her belt.
A flash of amusement crossed his cool face. “Right. You were just thinking with your eyes closed.”
“Yes.” She slid out. They were in front of her apartment building. She was so foggy-headed, and she just wanted to collapse in her bed.
Vander met her on the sidewalk.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said.
He nodded.
She forced her feet to move toward the lobby door.
“Brynn, that girl’s death is not your fault. You can’t carry that guilt around.”
She paused and looked back at him. She got the impression he was speaking from experience. “I know, but I will for a little while. It’s hard to switch off, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
Something in his voice, and the look in his eye, sent a shiver through her. Everyone looked at Vander Norcross and saw strength and power. Did no one ever look past that? She walked back to him until only an inch separated them.
“It’ll help when I stop the dealer and know that he can’t hurt anyone else.” She reached up and touched Vander’s jaw.
He went motionless.
“You’ve stopped a lot of bad people, Vander. That means you’ve saved lives.”
He stared at her, like he couldn’t quite work her out. “It’s easy to forget, and to just remember the bad stuff.”
Brynn felt so drawn to him. Like he was a magnet and she was pure metal. She leaned closer…
“Brynn?” a male voice called out from the lobby doorway.
She glanced back and saw a familiar, tall, broad-shouldered frame that leaned toward lanky, silhouetted by the light.
“You okay?” the man asked.
“Fine,” she said. “I’m coming in now.”
“I’ll make you some tea.”
Vander stiffened and stepped back. “You live with someone?”
“Yes.”
“A man.”
Oh, that lethal tone was back. His face completely shut down.
“Yes, my brother.”
Vander frowned and she fought back her amusement.
“Bard’s a firefighter.”
Vander studied her brother’s shadow. “He looks ready to come out here and drag you in.”
“Well, it is late, and I am loitering in the street with a dangerous man.”
“You always have a quick comeback, don’t you?”
She snorted. “I have three siblings. I learned fast.”
“I have three siblings, too.”
They both smiled, a shared moment of understanding.
Oh, no. She really shouldn’t start to see Vander Norcross as a brother, a son, a man.
“Brynn, you coming?” Bard sounded ticked.
“In a minute,” she snapped back.
She saw Vander’s lips quirk, which made her gaze get stuck on them. He lifted a hand and played with her hair. Her breath hitched.
“You did well tonight,” he said.
She widened her eyes. “High praise, coming from you.”
“When Hunt first floated this idea, I was sure it was going to go south.”
“I don’t like to fail.”
“I see that.”
“And I’m a middle child. I always had to fight for what I wanted, or I’d miss out. I always get what I go after.”
He tugged on her hair. “Be careful with Trucker and the Wanderers. And if you need help, call me.”
“I don’t have your number.”
“I’ll send it to you.”
“You don’t have my number,” she said.
“My tech guy can have your number in thirty seconds.”
“Or you could just ask Hunt. All normal, and legal-like.”
A faint tilt of his lips. “But much less fun.” He looked at her mouth for a second, and she thought he’d touch her again.
Then he stepped back. “Good luck, Detective.”
He got back in his sexy SUV and drove off. Brynn watched the brake lights disappear around a corner, fighting back a strange sense of loss, then headed toward the door.
Her brother scowled at her. “Who the hell was that?”
“Someone helping me with my Wanderers case.”
“I didn’t get a good look at him in the dark, but he didn’t look like a biker.”
“He’s not.”
“Still, I got the impression he’s not a man to mess with.”
Wasn’t that the truth. They walked inside, and Brynn’s eyes burned. “I need my bed.”
“Come on then, sis.” He grimaced at her short skirt. “Where the hell did you get that scrap of nothing? And don’t let Mom see those fake tats.”
Brynn rolled her eyes. “Can you save the disapproving brother routine for the morning?” She yawned.
“Yeah. Come on, sleeping beauty.”
Her phone pinged as they waited for the elevator. She pulled it out and saw a message from an unknown number.
Be careful.
Damn, Vander was good.
She stepped into the elevator, and Bard tugged on her hair.
But it was thoughts of another man doing it that stuck in her head.
* * *
Vander sat at the head of the conference room table, his hands steepled under his chin.
Ace Oliveira had finished giving a debrief on a cyber security job he’d just completed. Vander was listening, but he was thinking about Brynn.
It had been three days since the Wanderers party. Three days since he’d dropped her home. Three days since he’d kissed her.
He hadn’t heard a peep from her. He kept wondering if she was okay.
“Vander?”
He looked up at Saxon. His best friend was staring at him with a frown.
All the guys were watching him.
“Anything else?” Vander asked.
They all shook their heads.
“Good.” Vander rose. “I’m hitting the gym.” He didn’t normally work out in the middle of the day, but he needed to work off some of this edginess. He needed to stop thinking about a certain police detective.
“Vander?” Saxon grabbed his arm. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I just need to burn off some energy.”
“I’m pretty sure you need to get laid.” Saxon grinned. “That’s a particular upside of having a fiancée. Regular sex.”
Vander growled. “I do not want to hear about you, sex, and my sister. Ever.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
Vander just waved a hand dismissively and stomped downstairs to the Norcross gym.
He pulled his workout gear out of the locker, changed, and then hit the treadmill.
He set the speed fast. For a little while, he thought of nothing but his breathing and the burn in his legs. After ten miles, he stepped off and grabbed a towel.
An image of Brynn in that tiny skirt popped into his head. Her smile. That twinkle in her eyes when she looked at him. Her freckles.
Shit . Growling, he headed for the weights and started some bicep curls.
She’d be fine. Hunt had said she was good, and the little time Vander had spent with the detective had shown him that she was competent.
But the Wanderers were rough. And this new guy muscling in meant there were dangerous tensions.
He set the weights down and dropped down on the mat to do some crunches.
He hit a hundred and kept going.
“Man, what is with you today?”
Vander turned his head to see his brother, Rhys, lounging in the doorway.
“Nothing.”
His brother rolled his eyes. “I know you like to be a fortress of solitude, bro, but you don’t need to be the stoic commander all the time. Not anymore.”
Vander sat up. “I have some things on my mind.” He shook his head. “I’ll sort it out.”
And get the off-limits detective out of his thoughts.
“Haven’s planning a dinner party with the gang. She wants you to bring a date.”
“No.”
“Vander, you know I do everything in my power to make my woman happy.”
“I bring a woman to a family thing, they get ideas I don’t want them having.”
Rhys shoved a hand through his hair. “Wouldn’t hurt you to find a woman. You find the right one, and she makes everything better.”
Vander grunted and pushed to his feet. Since his brothers and sister had all happily hooked up with the loves of their lives, they couldn’t help but matchmake.
“It’s finding the right one that makes the difference, right?” An image of a face dotted with freckles hit him. Fuck . “You seemed to enjoy variety until then.”
“True,” Rhys agreed.
“Tell Haven I’ll think about it, but not to count on it.”
“Roger that.”
Ace appeared, tablet in hand, and a frown on his face. “Vander, you know why an informant named Twitch is trying to reach you?”
Vander straightened. Twitch was a member of the Blades. The street gang wasn’t huge, and they usually tried to steer clear of the larger, more dangerous Nortenos or MS-13. Twitch usually had good intel.
“No. I’ll call him.”
After a quick shower and a change back into his suit, Vander headed up to his office. He scrolled through his contacts to find Twitch, and called.
There was no answer.
Shrugging, Vander sat and got busy with some work. He didn’t love being stuck in the office, but paperwork was a necessary evil to running a business.
Every now and then, he found himself staring out the window, wondering what Brynn was doing. Were the asshole Wanderers giving her a hard time? He gritted his teeth. None of this was his damn business.
What about Grill? Vander wasn’t dumb enough to just dismiss him. The asshole wasn’t the type to back off.
Vander’s fingers itched to dial Hunt and ask for an update.
Shit . Rhys was right, he really needed to get laid.
He focused back on his paperwork. And lasted ten minutes.
Fuck it . He grabbed his phone and found her number.
Everything good?
He had no idea where she was, or if she would even respond.
His phone vibrated.
Everything’s good.
That was it? He tapped his screen.
How’s the new job?
Busy and not quite as enlightening as I’d hoped.
She hadn’t uncovered the dealer yet.
Sorry to hear that.
You been busy skulking in the shadows?
There was that smart mouth.
I don’t skulk.
You made me snort laugh. You are the very definition of a skulker.
Thieves and bad guys skulk. I move with stealth.
I don’t know. I’m still not convinced.
Vander shook his head and found himself smiling.
Hey, did you catch the Sharks game last night? They smashed the Blues. Told you that they’d claw back.
I saw it. They got lucky. They play the Bruins next and they don’t have a chance.
Bite your tongue. How about a little friendly wager? They win, you owe me a marker. I hear a favor from you is a valuable commodity.
What do I get when I win?
What do you want?
He stared at the words on the screen. Dangerous thoughts twisted through him.
I’ll think of something. You’re on.
You’re going down. Now, I have to go.
Be careful.
I always am. Go Sharks!
He shook his head, still smiling. She was okay, that was all that mattered.
Then his phone rang. An unknown number. He pressed it to his ear. “Norcross.”
“Hey, Vander.” Nervous breathing.
“Heard you were looking for me, Twitch. What have you got?”
There was an audible swallow. “Blades are getting a big Stardust delivery. Huge.”
Vander stiffened. “Really? From?”
“Bikers. The Iron Wanderers.”
Vander’s fingers curled into a fist.
“They have some new guy. He’s making all kinds of promises.”
“When’s the delivery?” Vander asked.
“Shit. If my brothers find out I talked, I’m dead.”
“I’m not planning to tell your gang leader.”
More heavy breathing. “Security will be tight. There will be Blades and bikers.”
“When?” Did Brynn know?
“Tonight. Midnight.”
The heart of darkness. “Where?”
“Shit, Norcross. I’m not high enough up to have all the deets. Somewhere neutral. That’s all I got.”
“Okay, Twitch. You did well.”
“I’ll get my next payment?”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks, Norcross.” The call ended.
Vander rose and rapped his knuckles on the desk. He needed to find out where that delivery was happening. The new dealer was sure to be there. He definitely wasn’t wasting any time making allies.
Now, did Vander inform Detective Sullivan?
He had no desire to see her wade into the middle of a dangerous drug drop.
And if she knew already…
Fuck . Vander needed to find out where the deal was going down.
He shrugged into his jacket and headed out of his office.
Saxon was out in the hall, holding a file. His best friend raised a brow. “Where are you off to?”
“I need to visit some informants. Hold the fort?”
“Sure. Need a hand?”
“Not yet.”
Vander strode down to the parking level to get his bike, telling himself this had nothing to do with Brynn Sullivan.