I finally gain my composure and take a good hard look at him and ask, “What does this all mean, Lucas? Are you here in my apartment on Emmett’s orders, or what? Because this can’t all be a coincidence.”
He comes back into my space and plants his hands on either side of my legs, making eye contact with me. “No. I may be on Emmett’s payroll but I’m not his puppet. I do know right from wrong. Please believe me on that. Believe it or not, thisisa coincidence. I swear to God.”
I look down and shake my head because I just can’t believe it. He works for Emmett. He’s his fucking bodyguard. And the last bodyguard who came around disappeared after he roughed my dad up and then threatened me.
“I think I need some space,” I tell him, “if you’re not here to threaten me, I need you to leave because I’m not sure I believe in coincidences at this point.” I slide off the counter, my body trailing against his, and then I push him back to let him know I’m not joking around.
“Please don’t do this, Jordan. Please,” he begs. His face looks pained, and I almost give in because he seems genuine. But I don’t know who to trust. And even though I feel the safest I’ve ever felt around him, I have to keep my guard up.
I walk to the door to usher him out but before my hand can turn the knob, Lucas drops a bomb on me.
“I’m an undercover cop.”
Time stops.
Did he just say what I think he said?
I slowly turn back around to face him. My heart is beating outside of my chest and I’m sure he can hear it, but I ask anyway to confirm, “What did you just say?”
He’s one hundred percent serious when he says, “You heard me. I’m a cop.”
I search his face for the lie but come up empty. What the hell kind of criminal drama show did I walk into? I thought my situation was already fucked, but to add this…it seems like I’m in a reality show and about to be the punch line of a joke.
“I’ve been working an angle on Emmett for a few months now but haven’t gotten anything solid until recently. With what your dad knows, paired with what I’ve seen, we could have a real shot at taking Emmett down plus some seriously bad people.”
My mind’s going a million miles a minute. If he’s a cop, then my dad could finally be free of Emmett once and for all. I’ve been wanting to go to the police but was unsure of how my dad would fit into it all. Would he go to jail, or would they let him walk? Emmett’s been making threats for the last six months because my dad wants to quit per their original deal, but Emmett won’t let him go.
Now could be that chance.
I leave my spot by the door and head to my closet.
“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but…what are you doing?”
I pull the duffle bag I brought to Lucas’s down from the shelf and bring it to the bed. I open it up and pull out the rectangular insert on the bottom, flipping it over to show Lucas the yellow manila folder that’s taped on the underside.
“What’s that?” he asks and moves closer to inspect the folder.
“Photographs.”
He looks at me and then back at the folder. “May I?”
I nod.
He opens it up and then dumps out a handful of photos. There are pictures of the previous bodyguard, Emmett, and a few other people he had meetings with.
“Holy shit,” Lucas swears under his breath. “There are known cartel members in these photos.” He thumbs through them slowly. “How did you get these?”
His expression morphs from shock to knowing in a matter of seconds.
“I followed them.”
“Explain. Now, please. Because I really don’t want to believe that you went around with your signature pink hair and played spy on men who kill people for the hell of it.”
I lift up both my hands. “First of all, I always wore a disguise. And secondly, I needed something on Emmett. Anything to get my dad out of his grasp. I may have moved out of my dad’s house, but I never wanted him in this position.”
“So, you went around taking photos of murderers and drug dealers?”
“My job at the coffee shop lends for a lot of free time in the afternoons. I would occasionally go downtown and then follow Emmett and his goon. I just happened to come across him with these people.” I shrug my shoulders.
