“You have?” Charlie took his hand but looked to Derek for an explanation.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Just ignore him. We do.”
Coop’s smile grew even wider. “Nah.” He winked. “They love me.”
While the guys began to talk about the situation, Mac slid over to Charlie’s side. “You doing okay?”
“No,” she told the other woman honestly. “I’m not. I was afraid something like this was going to happen, and now it has.”
Rather than give her useless platitudes, Mac put her hand on her shoulder. “Derek may joke around, but he’s smart as hell. If anyone can figure out who’s behind all of this, he can.”
Derek glanced over at her then. He did a double-take and stopped talking to the guys.
“Hey.” He stepped closer, rubbing her arms. “What’s that look for?”
His image blurred as more tears welled in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
Understanding crossed his face. “Don’t go there, Charlie. We don’t even know what started it yet. Could’ve been somethin’ as simple as faulty wiring.”
“You don’t believe that any more than I do.”
“She’s right.” Jake stepped closer. “No way do both these things just happen. You’re a target for someone, and we need to figure out who it is.”
“Weknowwho it is.” Charlie stepped back, out of Derek’s arms. “Think about it, Derek. You were having absolutely no issues before I came along. You blackmail Caleb into agreeing to a divorce, and suddenly, your car gets demolished and now this?” She threw her arm out toward his house. “Ithasto be him. He’s getting back at you for taking me away from him.”
“Baby, Caleb is still in New York.”
Charlie crossed her arms at her chest. “How do you know that for sure?”
“I told you. I have someone watchin’ him.”
“He could’ve offered that person more money to lie to you.”
The sympathy filtering through his eyes was like a kick to her gut.
“Look, Charlie. I get why your mind immediately goes to Caleb, but the truth is”—he glanced over at his teammates then back to her—“we’ve made a lot of enemies over the years. This very well could have nothin’ to do with you.”
Beyond frustrated, Charlie ran both hands through her hair and growled. “You guys aren’t listening. I’m not trying to make this all about me. Iknowthis man. I know what he’s capable of.”
She took a breath, her eyes pleading with Derek to hear her. “Remember that first night you brought me here? I told you then about Caleb’s connections. I warned you then that something like this would happen if you went up against him. Now, it has.”
“We’re going to find out who’s behind this, Charlie,” Jake tried to assure her. “We’ll look at every possible angle, including Porter.”
“I’ve got a contact in New York I trust,” Trevor jumped in. “I’ll call him right now and have him get eyes on Caleb.”
“What if he can’t?”
Charlie knew she sounded desperate, but she didn’t care. Things were escalating quickly, and she’d never be able to live with herself if something happened to Derek because of her.
“If he can’t”—Jake answered for Trevor— “I’ll send someone from the team to New York to find him.”
She blinked at Jake’s generous offer. “Thank you.”
“When we’re finished here, we’ll go back to your place.” Derek took her hands in his. “My laptop’s in the rental car, so I’ll be able to re-run every program to check for new anomalies in his bank and credit card activity. If Porter is paying someone to do this shit, there’s got to be a way for me to find out.”
Charlie looked up at his handsome, determined face. “If it is him...” She swallowed. “If all this is happening because of me, I...” Her voice broke, and she bit her trembling lip to keep from crying again.
Derek pulled her against his chest. Tucking her head beneath his chin, he kissed the top of her head and swore, “If it’s Caleb, we’ll stop him.”
