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Chapter Eighteen

Chance

I’ve been run over by a truck.

At least that’s what it feels like. Groaning, I sit up in bed and swing my legs over the side, dropping my head into my hands as I struggle to wake up. Jesus. I don’t think I’ve ever slept so hard in my life, but I guess that’s what thirty-six hours without sleep will do to you. Yesterday was supposed to be a pretty chill day. I was going to read through some of the files of upcoming cases for the PI business and scout out a new hotel for us to use on rescues. All that changed with a single phone call.

Thinking back over it, I shake my head. We were scheduled to pick up Sadie today, but she called us yesterday, freaked out because her boyfriend was acting weird and she wanted to leave immediately. We all jumped into action, rushing over there as soon as he left and we weren’t nearly as prepared as we should have been. She was terrified he would come back at any minute, so we had to move quickly, shoving as many of her clothes as we could into bags. When Kodiak and I got her out of there and drove her to the hotel, I was finally able to breathe a little easier, but it was short lived. Her boyfriend showed up and we were locked in the hotel room until Smith and Storm got there to hold him off. It took two more hotel changes and several irate calls to Streak to figure out that he had installed an app on her phone to track her. We normally make the girls leave their phones behind but like I said, everything was fucked up yesterday.

Sighing, I lift my head and peek over at the clock on the nightstand.

12:15 p.m.

I guess it’s a good thing I’m working with the PI business today and I can make my own hours. Standing, I stretch and take a step toward the bathroom when my foot hits something soft on the floor. I study the red ball of fabric for a second before picking it up and the smell of coconuts fills my nose. Carly. Images from last night flash through my head and my eyes widen as I turn to look at the door. We were in the kitchen and she wasn’t fighting me off like she usually does and then I kissed her and brought her upstairs.

Shit.

Spinning around, I glance down at the bed, feeling hopeful but my spirits fall when all I find are empty sheets. What the hell happened after I got her up here? Closing my eyes, I retrace every moment until I fall back on the bed with a curse. Fuck, did I really pass out on her after I finally got her under me again? She’s been avoiding me for two weeks, claiming there’s nothing between us but last night was different – I could see it in her eyes. I was breaking down her walls and I thought she was ready to give us a shot and then, like an idiot, I fell asleep and gave her the opportunity to overthink things and freak out.

“Fuck!” I shout, rubbing my hand over my face as I fall onto my back and punch the mattress next to me. With a growl, I sit up and shove off the bed, stalking into the bathroom and tossing the shirt into the hamper with the smell of coconuts lingering in the air. It’s like she surrounds me and I fucking love it. After getting undressed, I turn on the shower and try to remember more of last night but no matter how hard I try, the last thing I remember is watching her sweet little ass disappear into the bathroom. I can’t believe I was so close to getting everything I’ve wanted since the moment I met her and I lost it all because I was too tired to wait five fucking minutes.

Tipping my head back, I let the water run over my hair and sigh. I’ll just have to grovel. She may like to play tough, but I know how easily she gave into me last night, felt the way her body melted into my arms, and the shivers that ran down her skin from my touch. She’s fighting it, but she wants this just as much as I do. I’ve seen the pain she works so hard to hide and I know she thinks she has perfectly valid reasons for keeping me at arm’s length but that’s just not going to work for me. I’m not like any of the other guys she’s been with and I’m not just going to give up. Not that I could even if I wanted to.

With new resolve, I turn off the shower and step out, grabbing the towel off the rack. I get dressed quickly and grab my phone before walking down the hallway to Streak’s lair. I knock twice and he yells for me to enter. He’s perched behind three large computer screens and his fingers are flying across the keyboard. Totally focused on the screen in front of him, he doesn’t even bother to look up at me.

“What can I do for you?” he asks and I sit down in the chair next to his desk.

“You got anything for me?” I asked him to start looking into Carly’s background for me last week. After a week of separation, I was ready to do damn near anything to get any piece of her I could and I’ve become a little obsessed with whoever caused the pain I see in her eyes from time to time. Even thinking about it makes me feel murderous and if I ever find out what happened to her and who is responsible, I have no idea what I’ll do.

“Yes and no,” Streak says, slapping a folder down on top of the desk in front of me.

“What does that mean?”

“It means any information I find just gives me more questions. I’m definitely intrigued by this woman.”

“Go near her and I’ll kill you,” I snap and he starts laughing, leaning back in his chair.

“Y’all are just gonna start dropping like flies, huh? First Storm and now you… poor bastards.”

I flip him off and he laughs again as I open the folder and start going through the pages inside. “What the fuck does all this mean?”

“Page one is school transcripts – nothing to mention there. Page two is her bank account and if you look at the top of the page, you’ll see she has a balance of twelve million dollars in her savings account.”

My eyes widen and I glance up at him. “Where did it come from?”

“Ah, see, now that is the interesting part. I don’t know. It was deposited as cash in nine thousand dollar increments which makes it untraceable and leads me to believe that maybe it’s not really above board.”

“You think it’s dirty money?”

He shrugs. “I’m just saying most people don’t put twelve million in cash in their bank accounts.”

“Can you see who deposited it?”

He nods, scrolling to one of the side computers. “It looks like it was her mother.”

“She said her mom was good at getting money out of her ex husbands.”

“Yeah, I looked at all of them and one did buy Carly and her sister condos but none of them are missing that much money.”