Tracker eyes me, and I stand, moving into the sun spilling through the conference room windows while Tracker relays the details. TJ fills him in on what he gathered during his surveillance, purposely excluding Van’s assistance in tracing him.
Neither of them mentions Cole’s involvement, which is for the best. I have enough to worry about when it comes to the big football star. I don’t need anyone jumping down my throat about involving him when I simply did what I had to do. And I’d do it again.
“Nichols got spooked,” TJ adds. “He left the hotel and went straight to the airfield. He’s gone. That’s not a coincidence.”
Rodrigez nods. “My guys will be watching for his return. I’m checking to see what we know about his business partners and dealings. I want to know who he’s connected to.” He stands and shoves his phone into his pocket, wrapping up our little debriefing.
“When are you joining my team?” He leans against the windowsill with his eyes fixed on me. “I need your instincts and your brain,” he smiles, pointing to his temple, a devilish grin revealing his straight white teeth.
I’m pretty sure Rodrigez offers me a job every time we meet. The man looks like he belongs to a biker gang. He’s muscular, tattooed, and has a look that tells you he’s no stranger to the hardest sides of life.
“Stop offering her a dead-end desk job. She’ll quit the first day,” Tracker says over his shoulder. “I’m grabbing coffee.Meet me in my office,” he orders me, following TJ out of the conference room.
“You did good getting that kid out of there.” Damien’s voice drops to a soft, serious tone.
The man is all hard edges and not someone you’d ever want to find yourself in a dark alley with, but he’s gentle to the core when it comes to these kids.
“You all right? That fight had to leave more than that bruise on your cheek.”
My hand falls to my side, remembering Cole’s careful fingers as he inspected the wound and his curious eyes when he saw my mark. He held in every question that rolled through his brief pause. But when I leaned into him, and he wrapped his arms around me, I wanted to stay there with him forever.
“I’m fine.”
His sly smile returns at my lie. “I’ve seen the pictures. Didn’t know you were into pretty-boy football players. That must be interesting when you show up looking like you took names in a bar fight.”
I’d love to know what exactly Cole thinks, but I’m too afraid to ask. That enemy called shame slides over my stomach and punches it a few times to get it to wake up and take a big whiff of reality.
I woke up to the sound of Cole’s phone buzzing on his nightstand. I’d fallen asleep in the chair and stayed there. His sleepy eyes held mine for only a moment before he answered.
Greg, his GM, demanded a meeting with the head coach this morning to discuss yesterday’s poor performance and his playbook being switched.
We rushed out the door, and it’s what I needed—time to work and try to make sense of just one thing because any of these thoughts and feelings related to Cole are…too much andtoo…intense. I can’t name or identify any of it. It’s all more frightening than what I encountered at the hotel last night.
“Did the database kick back anything from the kid’s picture?” I switch the subject, unwilling to discuss Cole on any level.
Rodrigez’s lips twitch at my dodge, but he shakes his head. “Not yet. You know it’s like sifting through a mountain of sand, but let me know if you get anything new out of him. My guess is he’s like the rest.”
Bought and sold, with no one looking.
“Hey, I’m not paying her to stand around and shoot the shit with you all day.” Tracker stops in the doorway with a fresh, steaming cup of coffee.
Rodrigez pushes away from the sill. “You let me know when your brain and body have had enough. You could teach some of these young bucks how to bust through a metal door without leaving a scratch.”
“It’s called a key,” I say.
He laughs, bumping Track on the shoulder, but turns back, his mischievous dark eyes gleaming. “You let me know if that shiny quarterback steps out of line. I’ll be sure to run into him on a dark street corner.”
One side of my mouth ticks up. “That won’t be necessary.”
He winks again, disappearing down the hallway, and I follow Tracker to his office. He sits in his chair, and I plop down on the one across from him.
“I was gone for four days, and all hell broke loose.”
“You know this world never sleeps.”
“I want an update on everything.” He rests back and takes a sip of his coffee. His plane touched down early this morning, and vacay was officially over.
I fill him in on what happened at the game first.
