“Hello?” I called into the quiet home.
“What do you want?” Came an old voice fresh with anger.
I stuck my head in an inch past the doorway, refusing to walk over the threshold. “I’m looking for Derek? Does he live here?”
In old face, full of wrinkles and an expression of pure hatred, ate up the space in the doorway and I reared back, trying to give myself distance.
“What are you doing here looking for him? He’s nothing but trouble. I don’t like your kind and I won’t have you bringing your problems here. Get off my porch,” the old woman yelled and used a bony finger to poke at the box, sending me a step back.
“Right, sorry I bothered you,” I said and then, not wanting to put my back to her in case she turned into something fromThe Grudge, I hightailed it off the porch and fast-walked backward.
That might have been when my life was most in danger. Walking, while holding things, puffing, and going backward was a recipe for disaster.
I reached my car and chucked the box back into the passenger side as a dog howled in the distance. First it was one and then another joined and then a third until it sounded like an entire pack howling at the moon a few feet past the tree line. The hairs on my arms rose.
“Okay, I’m out,” I said, throwing myself in the car, slamming the door shut and putting my keys back in the ignition. Howling dogs were a hard limit for me, thank you very much.
My car never had problems starting, but I closed my eyes as I locked the door and turned the key, praying to God now wasn’t the time it stalled. The car started without a problem and I twisted around, driving over burned grass as I fishtailed on my way out of the driveway. I definitely wasn’t buying myself any points with the old woman, but I didn’t have plans to return.
Ever.
At least not with a big hulky security dude by my side.
Actually, scratch that. Riley could deliver the box. I’d watch from the car.
I needed to make good on my commitment, but I wasn’t willing to risk becoming the evening’s main dish, so I cranked up the radio and stared out the front window so I didn’t see the trees while I drove back to Pelican Bay, promising myself I’d never come back here even as the big heavy box took up space and laughed at me from the passenger seat.
17
RILEY
Ifinished up with Ridge and headed in to meet with Sloan and get another update. Not only was he tracking the Grand Master and Jerico, but I also had him taking a deeper look into Cassandra. I hated to question my high school sweetheart, but the timing of the break-in at her brother’s house was a coincidence we couldn’t overlook.
“What do you have for me, Sloan?” I asked, sounding too much like my brother Ridge.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. We were all putting in long hours, and he’d been staring at the computer screen nonstop for days. “I’ll be honest, Riley, I see nothing on Cassandra either. Even Spencer said she’s spotless.”
“Dammit,” I said, tapping my fingers on the desk. It’s not that I wanted something to come back on Cassandra to make her a liar, but I was running out of leads. Both she and her brother were squeaky clean.
“Who else could it be?” Sloan asked, as if he was waiting for me to rattle off a bunch of names for him to investigate.
But I didn’t have any names. “Katy’s right about the break-in.”
I hated to admit it, but it wasn’t a crazy coincidence on the timing. We’d had no other random break-ins in Pelican Bay or the surrounding areas. I called Detective Anderson myself and had him check into it. Everything was cleared.
The break-in tied to either Cass or her brother.
“Has anything else happened to her since she’s been here?” Sloan asked.
I shook my head, not because I’d guarantee Cassandra hadn’t run into trouble while she was in Pelican Bay, but because I didn’t know.
Fuck.
I’d been so obsessed with my ability to be around Cassandra that I failed as a security investigator. I hadn’t paid enough attention or asked the right questions. It was a classic mistake. Most of the guys made it at least once—normally when dealing with their girlfriends, but I hated that I’d fallen into the same hole. She blindsided me.
Because I’d slacked on my duties, now we had a possibility Cassandra might be in danger. She had not lived in Pelican Bay for years and didn’t know the way things had gone in town since Ridge and our crew became a part of the city’s residents. There’d always been mischief to be had in Pelican Bay, but Ridge coming here stirred the waters and brought out the illicit activities, which usually happened under a calm sea, turning them into ferocious waves.
The streets were cleaner, but the city people were more aware of what truly went down at night. I hated to consider Cassandra messed up with something bad.
