Did he suspect they were more than she let on? “Someone has to be.” As long as the world’s systems favored the wealthy and powerful, there’d be a need for extralegal remedies. She was tired of lying to Jason about her true role, but she didn’t have the right to tell him. Not without her team’s permission. “We need a plan for tonight.”
The hotel room door opened and Todd entered, locking the deadbolt behind him before entering the sitting room carrying a bag of their takeout orders from a nearby Thai restaurant. His gaze bounced between her and Jason as he slowed to a stop several feet away. “What’s up?”
“Good timing,” Jason said. “We could use your help.”
After the absolute mindfuck of kissing Nolan Yamazaki, Dallas had practically run from the beach to where his Tesla sat on a narrow side street in Venice, anxious to escape Nolan’s maddening pull.
He’d driven home and tried to sleep but instead had ended up in a booth at an all night diner reviewing the systems of everyone in the Night Herons, looking for suspicious behavior, spyware—besides his own—and anything else his program had flagged for further scrutiny.
He’d found nothing, even after delving deeper into Nolan’s files and everything he could find on the man, from his credit report to his high school transcripts. All he’d learned was that Nolan had gotten a B in sophomore Spanish and paid all of his bills on time. Was he too good to be true?
A message on the forum from Emma had interrupted Dallas’s spiral of self-loathing.
She’d wanted to know if he and Nolan had made any progress finding offshore accounts for Warner’s team since it looked like the men were running. Dallas and Nolan had found some, but to be honest, the project had fallen off their radar with the events of the last couple days. Until everything in Lucerne blew up, they’d expected to have more time to locate all of the money. After the mission went sideways, they’d been busy with other matters.
Suddenly, locating the accounts and initiating donations to clean them out had become priority one. He’d have to involve Nolan on this. The man was an expert not only on following the money trail through shell corporations into offshore accounts, but at moving the funds out just as sneakily.
Fuck my life. Facing Nolan right now was the last thing Dallas wanted, but he could suck it up. The Night Herons were more important than a blip in his love life.
He got a quick overview of recent events from Emma, as much as possible while still trying to speak in generic terms, and let her know Warner’s accounts were buried deep. He’d promised to rush the job, and she’d pledged to help before signing off with a final message.
Rose: Sorry for the long hours. I owe you dinner once I get back and you get some sleep. ;-)
Ha, as if. Sleep, not the dinner. Emma always followed through on her promises. He didn’t need little rewards from anyone on the team, but it was nice to be appreciated. It’s part of why he’d hate to ever have to leave the Herons. Why couldn’t he be attracted to literallyanyoneelse on the planet besides Nolan?
Whom he now had to call.
“Dal?” Nolan said as soon as he picked up, his voice thick with sleep. “What’s wrong?” he asked, sounding part wary, part optimistic.
That beautiful voice nearly cracked Dallas’s resolve. “I’m sorry to call so late. It’s for work,” he said, quick to make it clear this wasn’t a personal call. “Can you meet me at the bookstore in half an hour?”
Several seconds passed before Nolan responded. “I thought you doubted my trustworthiness. What’s changed?”
Shit. “No.” Dallas rubbed his forehead. “I doubted my own judgment where you’re concerned. If it makes you feel better, I’ve been investigating everyone, not just you.”
“It doesn’t,” he said in a sardonic tone that Dallas had never heard before. “Learn anything interesting?”
“You lettered in soccer and debate in high school, and broke your ankle while skiing in Colorado when you were nineteen.”
“Meaty stuff,” Nolan said, scoffing. “If you dig deeper, you’ll find that I missed a car payment once. Forgot the stamp.”
“I’m sor—”
“When I was in seventh grade I stole a pack of gum from the grocery store on a dare. In high school, I broke my mom’s favorite vase and blamed it on the dog, and she still doesn’t know. I once got so drunk at a college party that I passed out, hit my head on the floor, and ended up with a concussion.”
“Nolan—”
“I was going to ask Amanda to marry me, but then I caught her making out in her car with another man.” He seemed to run out of gas then, falling silent.
Oh, fuck. “I’m sorry.” Dallas rubbed his eyes and closed his laptop. “About Amanda…about all of it.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Nolan sighed. “I know you’re just doing your job, protecting everyone. I’m trying really hard not to take it personally.”
“Maybe you should.” Dallas had given him every reason to feel aggrieved. A double entendre about Nolan “holding it against him” flitted through his mind, but now was most definitely not the time.Christ.
Nolan was silent for several seconds. “I know I’m not part of the original pack, and that probably makes you wonder about me.”
As much as Dallas hated to admit it, the man wasn’t wrong. “I trust Gretchen.” He truly did. He trusted her judgment, and he’d assisted the background investigation on Nolan himself two years ago, but during recent events, he’d still harbored doubts simply because Nolan hadn’t been part of the founding crew. He hadn’t been there for the pact they’d all made when they decided to do whatever it took to stop the Remy Blazes and Renfro Warners of the world.
