“I hope you’ll allow me to meet them.”
“We’ll see.”
She shook her head. “You’re so cautious of everything.”
“Because I learned a long time ago that I had to be.” I eased the weapon from behind my back, gently placing it on the table.
“He’ll come for me. Won’t he?”
“If he tries, he’ll have to get through me and that’s not happening.”
“Always my protector.”
“Not always.” Not when I should have been.
Reaching over, she almost touched my arm but folded her fingers instead, pulling away. The loss of her touch and the silence were deafening. “You were there when I needed you the most. I will never forget how you risked your life for me.” When she pulled her hand free, I could easily tell how traumatized she remained and the rage surfaced all over again.
Which would do me no good.
I wanted nothing more than to rip the fucking asshole to shreds. The fucker was playing with us and there was nothing worse in my mind than not being able to control a situation. However, the ball was in the fucker’s court, although I doubted he’d expected our visit to his brother. That would rile him.
Sitting back, I realized just how normal it seemed to have her sitting next to me inside my house. I’d never wanted to sharemy place with a woman. Why? Because my entire life had been about solving crimes, putting the bad guys away and protecting justice. Even in my books, there was little difference other than I could bend the scenarios to suit the ending I wanted.
Instead of the criminals getting the upper hand.
“Samuel’s house, the one you found him in. Did it list him as the owner?”
“It did,” I told her. “Which was another reason the investigation stopped the moment Samuel was captured.”
“What happened to the estate?” She lifted her eyebrows.
“Good question.”
“Maybe it defaulted to his brother.”
“My guess is to a shell corporation, possibly auctioned off. And before you get excited, criminals have perfected the art of hiding shell corporations that only a hacker can locate. Let me make a phone call and see if we can unravel the mystery.”
I tugged out my phone, thinking about who best to call. What I’d told her was true. We had a list of people on our team to call. While I could definitely access certain information, my gut told me what she was asking for would be difficult if not impossible to find. But we had a man on our team who was could track down anything.
Ruger answered on the second ring. “Our bestselling author. I just finished your latest book. I must say, I didn’t see the killer coming. Excellent job. But since you called me at midnight, you aren’t hoping for a book review.”
Ruger Swanson was a tough man, a former convict turned hacker who’d been a godsend during the last year. “Maybe later. I need you to find out what happened to a piece of property and any bank accounts surrounding it from a case I worked on thirteen years ago.”
“The Python Killer.”
“Are there no secrets in this organization?” She was studying me as I talked, her expression of amusement creating another wave of desire.
“None. I’ll see what I can find. If the asshole is good, it could take as much as twenty-four hours.”
“Whenever you have it.”
“I’ll let you know.”
After tossing my phone onto the table, I rubbed my hand through my hair. “Tomorrow I’ll officially begin the hunt.”
“You mean we will.”
“You’ll do nothing of the kind. I will do what’s necessary to keep you safe, including going against your will if necessary.”
