Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
H arlow opened the small file room and shuddered. “You can’t be serious with this?”
Vander shrugged one broad shoulder. “Most of our files are electronic. Ace has those organized.”
But this small file room was overflowing with files, reports, and towering piles of paper.
Harlow pushed up her sleeves. “I’m going to get this organized.”
“Have at it. Stay inside.”
She saluted him.
Vander winced, swiveled, and strode off to his office at the end of the floor.
It was the only one with walls. The rest of the space was divided by glass walls.
She glanced around and spotted Rhys kicked back in the desk chair in one of the offices.
He was focused on the large computer screen in front of him, phone pressed to his ear.
God, these Norcross brothers sure were eye candy.
Harlow turned back to the file room and decided to get to work. It would keep her busy, and keep her mind off things.
It took a few hours, not counting a quick lunch break, but she was finally done. She stood back and blew a strand of hair out of her face. Her arm was throbbing, but the end result was a neatly organized file room.
Rhys walked past and stopped. He raised a brow. “We’ll never find anything.”
She snorted. “Do you ever come in here?”
He grinned—and it was a sexy one. “Hell, no.”
Harlow rolled her eyes. She strolled through the main area, considering heading toward the coffee machine, when her phone pinged. She saw it was a call from Easton. “Hi.”
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“Fine. I just reorganized Vander’s file room.”
“He has a file room?”
She laughed. “A now-organized one. How’s work?”
“Busy. I like it better when you’re here. I think I made Gina cry.”
“Easton!”
“Hang on—” she heard a muffled voice talking to him “—I have to go. Meeting.”
“Okay.” She paused, wondering if she should say this. “Um, love you.”
He was silent for a beat. “I love you, too.”
She ended the call and grinned to herself. Despite the craziness and worry, she was in love with a hot, sexy man. A protective man, who could cook. Oh, and also happened to be a billionaire.
She pressed her hands to her hips. Now, she needed something to do. Something that wasn’t reorganizing the rest of the Norcross Security office. She wanted to help find her dad and get this stressful situation sorted before someone else got hurt.
She strode down the row of offices. She peeked through one doorway and found a medical room, which was surprisingly organized. Then she stopped at another door.
There were no windows in this one, and the walls were covered in flat screens. Ace was sitting in the center at a desk, sipping a large travel mug of coffee.
“Wow, this looks like mission control at NASA,” she said.
Ace flicked two fingers at her. “Nope. And I was NSA, not NASA.”
He was looking outrageously handsome today. He wore a checked shirt with his sleeves rolled up. His dark hair was in a short ponytail, and she wondered what it looked like when it was down.
“You doing all right?” he asked.
“Fine. Anxious and worried, but my gunshot wound is fine.”
Ace grinned at her.
“Fine, my nick. Did you get some sleep?”
“I grabbed a few hours, then came in. I’m used to it from my NSA years.”
“So, you weren’t a Ranger, or one of these uber-secret Ghost Ops guys?”
Ace shook his head. “Nope, but I spent many an all-nighter in the office when we had important missions.”
She nodded and studied the screens. A lot of them showed traffic cameras or CCTV footage.
“What are you doing?”
“Searching for your father, and this boy.” Ace tapped a keyboard and an image of a boy popped up. He looked like he was eleven or twelve, with dark hair, brown eyes, and a belligerent look on his face. He had worn clothes and a red baseball cap.
“Who’s that?”
“Daniel Brewer. He stole the dagger out of your father’s car.”
She gasped. “A kid has the dagger?” Jeez .
“I tapped into CCTV near Fisherman’s Wharf. He likes to pick pockets there, and break into cars. He’s been laying low. Probably deciding how to sell the knife. He tried a couple of pawnshops, but the owners ran him off.”
“And Dad?” She searched the screens for any signs of her father.
“I’ve narrowed it down to some properties owned by his mate, Gregor Howard.”
“I knew Gregor was lying to me.”
“He was staying in a rental property owned by Gregor. Vander searched it, but your father had already left. Vander questioned Gregor, and he said that he gave your dad access to several places. He’ll turn up soon.”
She swallowed. “What if Antoine or Rhoda find him first?”
Ace didn’t reply.
Harlow shook her head. “It’s damn hard being angry and loving someone at the same time.”
“I know.”
The understanding in his voice had her turning her head.
Ace sighed. “When I was younger, my kid brother tried drugs for the first time, and OD’d.”
“Oh, Ace.” She touched his hand.
His jaw worked. “He’s alive, but he suffered brain damage. The Rodrigo I knew, my best friend, he’s gone. He’s in a home. I see him every week, and we all go there for birthdays and Christmas.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’m still angry at him. We always talked about how bad drugs were, and not to get involved with them. He’ll never stop being my brother and I’ll never stop loving him.” Ace stared at his screens, lost in his own pain.
Harlow bit her lip and decided to change the subject. “Any word on my mother?”
“She’s fine. Rome said she does a lot of yoga, and drinks a lot of green smoothies.”
Harlow smiled. “Sounds like Mom. Wait, Rome’s watching her, so is he attending the yoga retreat?” Her brain tried to imagine big, bad Rome in a downward dog, and failed.
Ace snorted. “I highly doubt it.”
She stared at the screens. “Now what?”
“We wait.”
Ugh . She dropped into the chair and idly swiveled it.
Ace watched her and shook his head. “You’re bad at this.”
“I prefer to do, to get things done.”
“Chill, querida .”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Imagine that pretty dagger in your hand.”
“You charming a lady with your dagger, Latin Lover?”
The female voice made Harlow swivel. A smiling young woman stood in the doorway. She was tall, long, and lean, in black jeans and a blue shirt.
She was gorgeous, with gleaming, dark-bronze skin, and black hair cut super-short and shaped against her head. She had a long, graceful neck, large, dark eyes, and lips that Harlow would kill for. She wasn’t exactly beautiful, but she was striking.
“Ah, gatinha , give me some credit,” Ace drawled.
The woman sauntered in and perched on the edge of the desk. She crossed her long legs. “I don’t know, give you some tequila, and your endearments get very raunchy.”
“I’m Brazilian. It’s in my blood.” Ace nodded his head at Harlow. “Harlow, this is Magdalena Lopez. She’s like the little sister none of us ever wanted.” He reached out and patted Magdalena’s thigh.
The woman wasn’t looking at Ace, so Harlow was pretty sure he missed the flash in her eyes. It was clear Magdalena didn’t appreciate the little-sister comment, but she hid it well.
“It’s Maggie. People who call me Magdalena die in their sleep. Painfully.” Maggie broke into some rapid-fire Spanish.
Ace fired back, the language a little different, and the accent slightly more guttural.
Harlow assumed it was Portuguese. “You understand each other?”
“Close enough,” Maggie said.
“What’s gatinha mean?” Harlow asked.
Maggie rolled her eyes.
“It means kitty.” Ace grinned. “Because this one has a thing for birds. She’s our rotor head.”
“Beats being a computer nerd,” Maggie shot back.
Ace sure as hell didn’t look like a computer nerd, and didn’t seem worried by the jibe.
“Rotor head?” Harlow prompted.
“Helicopter pilot,” Maggie said. “When I’m not running my drone and helicopter photography business, I fly the Norcross boys where they need to go.”
Norcross boys? Harlow tried to imagine how Vander felt about being called a boy by a woman younger than him.
“Why are you here today, gatinha ?” Ace asked.
“I needed to see Vander about maintenance for the Sikorsky. I’m on my way out.” Maggie smiled at Harlow. “Don’t let him charm you into seeing his dagger. He isn’t choosy who he shows it to.”
Ace cursed in Portuguese and Harlow smiled. “We were talking about an actual dagger. A stolen one.”
“And Harlow belongs to Easton,” Ace added.
Harlow scowled. “I don’t belong to him. I’m not an object.”
Ace held his hands up. “Figure of speech, querida .”
“Easton. Hmm, good for you,” Maggie drawled. “He is one long, cool drink of water.”
Ace’s brow creased. “He’s too old for you.”
“I’m twenty-six, Ace, not sixteen.” Maggie jumped off the table. “Well, good luck with the dagger. I’ve got to go.” She waggled her eyebrows. “I have a date.”
“A date?” Ace frowned. “With who?”
“A big, buff guy I met at the gym. He’s a personal trainer.”
Ace snorted. “What do you know about him? What’s his name? I can look him up—”
“Bye, Ace. Nice to meet you, Harlow.” Maggie ducked out.
Ace scowled, and to Harlow, it looked like he was watching Maggie’s ass as she left.
Hmm, maybe not so sisterly after all.
They sat there quietly and Ace started tapping on the keyboard. She looked at the screens and then a second later, she spotted something.
“Ace, that’s the kid. Daniel Brewer!”
Ace leaned forward and zoomed the camera in. “No ball cap.”
“So? You said he works the streets, so he’d be smart and good at avoiding attention.”
The boy wasn’t looking directly at the camera.
“How can you be sure it’s him?” Ace asked.
“The way he hunches his shoulders is the same. And he’s got on the same battered running shoes.”
Then the boy turned, and they had a clear view of his face. It was Daniel.
Ace cursed. “Saxon,” he bellowed.
A second later Saxon appeared in the doorway. “You shouted?”
“We’ve got Daniel Brewer at Fisherman’s Wharf.”
Saxon stiffened and peered at the screen. “You sure?”
“Look,” Harlow cried. “In his pocket.”
There was a long, white object, sticking out of Daniel’s pocket.
“What do you think, Saxon?” Ace asked.
Saxon frowned. “Could be a knife.”
“I’m sure that’s the dagger,” Harlow interjected. “And I’ll bet that’s my father’s handkerchief it’s wrapped in.”
“Okay, I’m on it.” Saxon headed for the door.
Harlow leaped to her feet. This would help get Rhoda off her father’s back. “Wait, I’m coming.”
Saxon stared at her for a beat. “No.”
He left Ace’s computer room and jogged through the office.
Harlow ran to follow his long strides. She tailed him down to the garage. He slid into the Norcross SUV and she quickly jumped into the passenger seat.
“Harlow, you need to stay here. Safe.”
“Daniel Brewer is just a kid. And you’re a hot badass who can keep me safe.”
He stared at her again.
She sighed. “I need to help, Saxon. Everyone is doing so much, and I’m a born fixer. It’s killing me to just wait.”
Saxon released a breath. “I’d better not regret this.”
She smiled. “You won’t.”