“Agreed,” Ryker said. “This puts more pressure on us. You get that, right? These pictures are going to every law enforcement agency in the country. There’s nowhere we’ll be able to go and not get recognized.” He sighed and then he went deadly silent. “Fuck,” he snapped.
Denver leaned back from the monitor as a picture of Ryker’s fiancée was held up by Cobb next. “Zara Remington, a person of interest,” he read. Shit. That would send Ryker over the edge.
“I’ll kill him. We should’ve already killed him, damn it,” Ryker growled.
Anya’s picture was next. She had been the ultimate prize for the Copper Killer, a serial killer they’d just taken down, so her face had been on TV screens already. Yet she hadn’t been labeled a person of interest before. Denver shook his head, anger churning down his esophagus. “This is so bad.”
“Definitely. My phone is blowing up from Montana,” Ryker muttered, his voice shaking with what sounded like fury.
“It might not be a bad idea to head that way,” Denver said, already typing. The brothers in Montana owned several acres with phenomenal security. “We’re going to need new IDs. And we have to find Cobb, Ry.”
“Agreed. After this mission to find the baby—” Ryker started.
Denver started making up new names for them. “No. You guys find Madison and Cobb. I’ll keep on this case, and the second I need help I’ll call. We have to work round the clock now on Cobb. You know it’s true.” His time just shortened to find the baby, because he had to get her safe before he went after Cobb.
The sound Ryker made came from a deep well of what had to be frustration. “All right. But don’t for a second do this by yourself. Promise.”
“I promise. This can be fixed.” Denver turned to see Noni standing close to the kitchen, her pupils wide and her face the color of paper. She was frightened.
He kept her gaze. Not once had he lied to her. Well, recently. He’d admitted he was a killer, but maybe seeing it on television and watching a cop talk about him had changed her mind about him. About trusting him. The idea slammed a fist into his gut. His shoulders straightened.
Too bad. She’d asked for his help, and it was too late to turn back now. Whether she liked it or not.
CHAPTER
8
Noni turned into the kitchen and quickly started cleaning up while Denver did whatever people wanted for murder did on computers to make the whole thing go away. All right. She’d known he had a history, and she’d suspected he was wanted by the law. But murder? Even as a kid, he’d murdered somebody. It wasn’t like he’d denied it on the phone with Ryker.
No. He’d been more concerned with messing with the Internet. Probably with his dark web or whatever it was.
The back of her neck hurt, sending a headache right up through her skull. Tension. What should she do? She had to find Talia before Richie hurt or sold or did whatever he was planning with her. The idea of the baby in enemy hands hurt her deep down. She had to save Talia, and she needed Denver’s help.
But Denver had enemies—dangerous ones—apparently on both sides of the law. What if she got caught in the crossfire of his world and didn’t get the chance to save the baby?
But could she save Talia without him?
She finished in the kitchen, her mind spinning. If she got her pack, she could take the truck. It was in the garage. But what then? She truly had no clue. Maybe it was time to go to the FBI, but if she did that, then maybe they’d let Richie keep the baby. Since he was the father, then he had a parental right she’d have to get taken away, which was difficult and took time. If she was going to be Talia’s mother, she had to find the safest path. She set the dishrag on the counter and turned to see Denver leaning against the door frame, watching her.
When he looked at her like that, with those mysterious blue eyes, a hard knot of pleasure slowly unfolded inside her abdomen. She hated that she reacted like that to him—just from a look. “What?” she asked, her face heating.
“Make a decision yet?” he drawled, his voice low and gritty.
That tone. Her nipples peaked, and her breasts felt heavy and full. All of a sudden, her skin seemed too tight. “A decision?” she whispered, her voice hoarse.
He snorted. “Lose the innocent act. You going to make a run for it or not?”
Sometimes she forgot how smart he was and how easily he read people. Probably because he’d spent his life watching them instead of interacting. “I’m still working through the plus and minus columns in my head,” she retorted.
“Ah.” He flashed his teeth in a primal warning. “Let me help. I’m not gonna let you leave.”
Well, now. That certainly took the debate off the table. She bristled. “You’re willing to add kidnapping to what appears to be already an impressive list of crimes?”
If she’d meant to shake him or piss him off, she failed.
“Yes,” he said calmly. “In a heartbeat.”
Shock froze her in place. “You can’t do that.”
