Steady didn’t mean whole.
Her gaze drifted to the junk drawer. She hesitated before pulling it open. Receipts. Take-out menus. A pen that might or might not work. And tucked beneath it all, a crumpled napkin.
She pulled it free and stared at the number scrawled across it and the date. Next Saturday.
Another option. Another mistake waiting to happen.
“What are you, crazy?” she asked her empty kitchen.
Wadding the napkin into a ball, she threw it in the trash. A minute later, she dug it out and stuck it back in the drawer, muttering, “Crazy and stupid.”
Julia propped a hip against the counter, staring at nothing in particular. No matter how many times she told herself she was done with men and the lifestyle, her body—and her heart—were harder to convince.
Chapter 15
The conference room filled quickly. No one lingered before getting seated, and there were no side conversations. When Dev called a meeting, it wasn’t a social event or optional.
Dev didn’t sit. He never did when it mattered.
“Alec updated me on the Bellamy case this morning,” he said, his voice edged with urgency. “He’s accelerating. We need to move faster.”
He’d called in additional team members—Mateo, Michael, Boone, and Rafe. His gaze swept over them briefly. “Are you all up to speed?”
When he received a round of nods, Dev turned slightly. “Callan.”
The lights dimmed as the wall screen came to life. Security footage filled the display—grainy, low light, pulled from multiple angles. Anna Bellamy stood at the bar at the Driftwood. She appeared nervous, eyes constantly moving.
A man stepped into the frame. Tall. Medium build. His back remained partially to the camera as they spoke. Anna shook her head. He moved closer anyway, too close, too intent. She shook her head harder, body angling away.
He didn’t leave. Not immediately. After what looked like a heated exchange, and another patron sliding onto a stool two seats away, he finally turned and walked off.
The camera caught him in profile.
“Suspect number one,” Mateo said. “We need an ID on him.”
Callan froze on the image and zoomed in.
Leland recognized the man instantly. “Edward Mercer,” he stated. “Alec and I had a chat with him the other night.”
Dev looked at him. “And?”
“Can’t rule him out, but he doesn’t fit.”
Rafe, who rarely spoke, leaned forward. “Why?”
Leland’s jaw flexed. “Mercer’s a creep, not a hunter.”
“He likes being seen,” Alec explained further. “He parks himself at the second-floor rail like he owns the place.”
“Attention seeker?” Mateo said.
“Exactly,” Alec replied. “He feeds off the psychological impact of his stare and the discomfort he causes.”
“He rarely plays,” Leland added. “He’s there for the power trip, not the contact.”
“But he approached Anna Bellamy,” Boone pointed out. “Maybe she was his type.”
“I said rarely, not never. Approaching Anna is an outlier. He prefers people to come to him.”
