me a secret from Harding. And the girl didn't even realise that Lauofo had played her. Harding would be getting a call from his second about now.
"She's in trouble," I said into the strained silence of the room.
"Ya think?"
Fucking smart-arse.
I rubbed the back of my neck trying to figure this all out. She runs. She stops, takes a break in an Irish Pub. Then she returns. To that. Why?
I was missing something. Something I would find right now.
I moved to a new keyboard and pulled up her bank records, then went through them with a fine toothed comb. The withdrawal earlier tonight would have been Amber, about to run. I followed the transaction trail and came up with an electronic thread that led to... C&C Enterprises.
"He cleaned her out," I announced numbly, feeling Adam move to look over my shoulder. He whistled.
"Girl's broke. Still, I'd keep runnin' if I were her. She could make money anywhere with a body like that. Fuck, I'd definitely pay her."
I was up and out of my seat, hand fisted in Adam's shirt, his back thrust against the far wall in an instant. Both of us breathing too heavily.
"Don't," I growled. "Just. Fuck. Don't."
"All right, my man. Cool. All's cool." Hands up in the universal signal of surrender.
I slowly released my grasp and took a step back, still panting, hands now fisted at my sides. Adam took my stance in with a seemingly casual one of his own.
"All right," he said carefully. "So she needs our help."
Clever man. I nodded. It felt fucking stiff. In fact my entire body felt stiff and not in a good way.
I returned, my gait halting, to my seat in front of the screen I'd been using. Then after another slow breath in and out, continued down the bank statement.
Four months ago I hit something.
"Isn't that the hospice Eva's dad stayed in?" I said, pointing to the screen. Fuck knows what Adam had been doing, I'd blocked him out completely.
"Yeah, looks like it." He turned away and started twisting knobs on a short-wave radio in the corner. So old school.
"I think she's got someone there. Someone she can't leave behind."
"She been paying for their care?" Adam asked.
"Not recently."
"Maybe they're already dead."
I sighed, rubbed my eyes and tried to think.
"Dude, you goin' home any time soon, or am I here for nothin'?"
"Yeah. I need sleep."
"You need to get laid," Adam shot back.
Long legs, pouting curved lips and chocolate brown eyes stared back at me behind my closed lids. I groaned aloud, stood up and stretched to cover my reaction to that too fucking perfect vision inside my mind, and grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair.
"You know he won't hurt her," Adam said slowly, not looking up from the project he'd hauled inside here at the start of his shift.
"What makes you say that?" I asked, hesitating at the door. Jaxon Harding had only just come to our attention nine months ago. He was still predominantly an unknown player.
"Word is he worships her. Keeps her hidden most of the time. Pulled her from the stage to waitressing and then finally, when she earned her degree, hid her away in C&C's IT department. He's obsessed with keeping her for himself."
I knew all of this; until tonight in a detached way. We all did. Harding had been dissected in the past few weeks since we heard his name escalate on radar; his life, his loves, his interests. I just hadn't realised his interests crossed mine.
"Yeah, I know," I said after too long a gap.
"Just remindin' you," Adam murmured. "She could be the break we desperately need."
"Jesus, you too?"
I checked the screen, then unlocked the door, ready to step through and end this conversation.
"He won't let her go easily," Adam added, before I could make my escape.
"Yeah, well," I muttered. "He doesn't know me."
I caught the grin at the edges of Adam's lips, so slammed the door behind me before he could comment.
Exhausted, sick to my stomach at what Amber had been forced to do tonight, and utterly unable to get the look of panic on her
"She's in trouble," I said into the strained silence of the room.
"Ya think?"
Fucking smart-arse.
I rubbed the back of my neck trying to figure this all out. She runs. She stops, takes a break in an Irish Pub. Then she returns. To that. Why?
I was missing something. Something I would find right now.
I moved to a new keyboard and pulled up her bank records, then went through them with a fine toothed comb. The withdrawal earlier tonight would have been Amber, about to run. I followed the transaction trail and came up with an electronic thread that led to... C&C Enterprises.
"He cleaned her out," I announced numbly, feeling Adam move to look over my shoulder. He whistled.
"Girl's broke. Still, I'd keep runnin' if I were her. She could make money anywhere with a body like that. Fuck, I'd definitely pay her."
I was up and out of my seat, hand fisted in Adam's shirt, his back thrust against the far wall in an instant. Both of us breathing too heavily.
"Don't," I growled. "Just. Fuck. Don't."
"All right, my man. Cool. All's cool." Hands up in the universal signal of surrender.
I slowly released my grasp and took a step back, still panting, hands now fisted at my sides. Adam took my stance in with a seemingly casual one of his own.
"All right," he said carefully. "So she needs our help."
Clever man. I nodded. It felt fucking stiff. In fact my entire body felt stiff and not in a good way.
I returned, my gait halting, to my seat in front of the screen I'd been using. Then after another slow breath in and out, continued down the bank statement.
Four months ago I hit something.
"Isn't that the hospice Eva's dad stayed in?" I said, pointing to the screen. Fuck knows what Adam had been doing, I'd blocked him out completely.
"Yeah, looks like it." He turned away and started twisting knobs on a short-wave radio in the corner. So old school.
"I think she's got someone there. Someone she can't leave behind."
"She been paying for their care?" Adam asked.
"Not recently."
"Maybe they're already dead."
I sighed, rubbed my eyes and tried to think.
"Dude, you goin' home any time soon, or am I here for nothin'?"
"Yeah. I need sleep."
"You need to get laid," Adam shot back.
Long legs, pouting curved lips and chocolate brown eyes stared back at me behind my closed lids. I groaned aloud, stood up and stretched to cover my reaction to that too fucking perfect vision inside my mind, and grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair.
"You know he won't hurt her," Adam said slowly, not looking up from the project he'd hauled inside here at the start of his shift.
"What makes you say that?" I asked, hesitating at the door. Jaxon Harding had only just come to our attention nine months ago. He was still predominantly an unknown player.
"Word is he worships her. Keeps her hidden most of the time. Pulled her from the stage to waitressing and then finally, when she earned her degree, hid her away in C&C's IT department. He's obsessed with keeping her for himself."
I knew all of this; until tonight in a detached way. We all did. Harding had been dissected in the past few weeks since we heard his name escalate on radar; his life, his loves, his interests. I just hadn't realised his interests crossed mine.
"Yeah, I know," I said after too long a gap.
"Just remindin' you," Adam murmured. "She could be the break we desperately need."
"Jesus, you too?"
I checked the screen, then unlocked the door, ready to step through and end this conversation.
"He won't let her go easily," Adam added, before I could make my escape.
"Yeah, well," I muttered. "He doesn't know me."
I caught the grin at the edges of Adam's lips, so slammed the door behind me before he could comment.
Exhausted, sick to my stomach at what Amber had been forced to do tonight, and utterly unable to get the look of panic on her
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