No, he hadn’t, but he said only, “The reporter who got his
throat cut open? Yeah, I remember it well.” It was something he’d never forget.
Now he prayed Pepper wouldn’t forget, either. “Where the fuck were the boys in
blue back then? You ever wonder about that?”
“Often, actually.”
That surprised Rowdy enough that he started to reassess. “No
shit?”
After a second of indecision, Logan leaned forward with
purpose. Rowdy didn’t know if Logan planned to slug him, murder him or make a
confession of his own.
Before Logan could say a word, the other detective opened the
door. “You have a call, Logan.”
Logan scowled at his buddy. “The lieutenant?”
“No.”
Irate over the interruption, he said, “So take a message.”
The big man’s gaze crawled over Rowdy, then returned to Logan.
Voice lower, he said, “It’s about his sister.”
The chair crashed backward as Rowdy launched out of his seat.
With his hands shackled to the table, he could do nothing more than cause a
disruption. “Where is she?” Helplessness strangled him. “What’s happened?”
Logan reacted almost as badly. “Watch him,” he ordered the
detective, and in two long strides he left the room.
Breathing hard, Rowdy stared at the other man. “If she’s
hurt—”
“Emotionally, I’m sure she’s devastated.” In a show of
insouciance, the cop put his hands in his pockets and took a relaxed stance at
the edge of the table. “The two of you seem hell-bent on ensuring that.”
Taking him to task? And including Logan in the censure?
“I’m Detective Bareden, by the way. Reese Bareden.”
“Fuck off.” This was the weirdest situation he’d ever
experienced. An arrest that maybe wasn’t. Questioning that didn’t cover the
expected. Casual introductions. And now concern for his sister? Not just from
Riske, but from Bareden, too?
None of it made sense—yet.
“You don’t know anything about her.” But the detective was
right. Pepper needed him now, more than ever.
Still with disregard for the extreme circumstances, Bareden
rolled one shoulder. “I know she’s a young woman who’s been put in an untenable
position, with few choices left to her.”
Unfortunately, Rowdy had even fewer choices than his sister.
“Damn you, tell me that she’s all right.”
“I have no idea,” Bareden said. “But I do know she slipped away
from my officers.”
It took a few seconds for that to sink in past the fear, for
the gnawing panic to recede. Pepper had eluded the hawks.
Thank God.
Rowdy needed to sit, but he’d toppled his chair. He folded his
arms on the table and put down his head instead, intent on regaining his
calm.
Helplessness was not a comfortable happenstance.
He felt Bareden approach, tensed for an attack, but then heard
the chair legs scrape as the detective righted it.
“My officers are diligent.”
Not diligent enough, obviously. Not for Pepper. Rowdy sent more
thanks heavenward before lifting his head. He smiled at Bareden. “The evidence
would prove otherwise, yeah?”
Bareden ignored that to say, “That was some extreme reaction
you had.”
“Fuck you again.”
“I’m curious.” He studied Rowdy’s face. “Are you worried about
her giving up info on you, or for her safety?”
Gratefully, Rowdy dropped into the chair. “She’ll never talk.”
Not that she had anything incriminating against him anyway. He rubbed tired eyes
and prayed that Pepper would disappear, then stay gone. Arrangements had been
made to enable her.
But would she leave him?
Logan stormed back in. He hit the door so hard that it bounced
off the wall with resounding force. Reese tried to stop him, but he shoved past
with uncensored aggression to grab Rowdy by the shirtfront.
“Where the fuck is she?”
Unfazed by the anger, Rowdy eyed Logan’s taut features, the
bunched muscles, the clenched jaw. Huh. If he didn’t know better, he’d think
Detective Riske was actually worried for her.
Interesting.
He glanced at Bareden. “And you thought my reaction was
extreme?”
Logan shook him. “Tell me, damn you.”
“Sure thing.” Knowing it’d get to the cop even more, Rowdy let
his satisfaction show. “She’s where you’ll never find her.” And now, finally, he
could relax a little—at least on that score.
* * *
P
EPPER
STOOD
AT
THE
SINK
,
scissors in hand. Bold streaks of lighter blond now enhanced her natural blond
color. Because she’d often cut her and Rowdy’s hair, she wasn’t totally inept. A
salon would have been better, but it was too late for that.
It was too late for hesitation. Too late for a lot of
things.
She got started, and within half an hour she’d finished. Though
her hair was still long, she now had layers, more fullness and a little
style.
It didn’t take her long to go all out on the makeup. Shadow,
liner, mascara, blush, gloss… She now looked nothing like the mousy, plain,
timid spinster.
As awful as everything else might be at the moment, it felt
good to be herself again.
Rowdy had stocked up on everything she’d need, including some
of her old clothes. But the only bra she had was the awful, restrictive sports
bra—and she tossed it toward a rusted barrel. With luck, she’d never have to
wear that uncomfortable thing again.
She pulled on a dark tank top and skinny jeans with ankle
boots. After strapping a leather belt through the loops of the low-slung jeans,
she secured her folding tactical knife in her left boot and drew her cross-body
purse over her head and shoulder.
No one who knew her two years back would miss her now.
Finally, after hiding so long, she wanted to be seen. After
all, if Morton’s cretins didn’t see her, they’d go after Rowdy instead. In jail,
he was a sitting duck.
So she had to be a visible target instead. She owed her brother
that much.
She’d start the night by visiting the station.
If Morton had heard of the arrest, his henchmen would be
watching. Logan had known of her, so it stood to reason that Morton did, as
well. She’d draw attention.
She’d draw Morton Andrews.
With any luck, his people would come after her instead of her
brother.
She couldn’t imagine what Logan might think when he saw the
real Pepper Yates instead of the fabricated Sue Meeks.
And she didn’t care!
Damn him, none of this was about him. It was about her brother,
about keeping them both alive.
And if she said it enough, maybe her heart would finally start
to believe it.
CHAPTER TWELVE
L
IEUTENANT
M
ARGARET
P
ETERSON
, having just arrived back at
the station, stared at Logan with ill humor. Even in her off hours, Peterson
didn’t dress casually. She wore her suits and starched white shirts like a suit
of armor.
Logan knew her to be a ballbuster of the first order. But then,
at thirty-two years old, she’d seen a lot of ugly things while serving the city.
Law enforcement was in her blood; she came from a long line of cops, with an
even longer line of commendations.
She wanted to make a difference. She wanted to clean out the
corruption.
A woman would have to be tough to do that.
They didn’t come tougher than Peterson. “You have
him…where?”
“Here.” Logan handed her a cup of fresh coffee and refilled his
own. “Reese is keeping him in the interrogation room.”
“Detective Bareden.” Her displeasure couldn’t have been
plainer. “I thought we agreed to keep this sting between the two of us.”
“I trust Reese.”
“Obviously.” Big blue eyes, short but silky brown hair and a
slender body were in contrast to a will of iron. “I’m not convinced that’s
wise.”
So she didn’t trust Reese, and Reese didn’t trust her. In other
circumstances, Logan might find that more amusing. But not now.
Not with Pepper off on her own, scared, hurt, unprotected.
“How did this happen, Detective?” Peterson perched her hip on
the edge of a table in the empty conference room—a room she’d chosen for
privacy. “How is it Bareden knows about this before me? I was to be kept
informed first and foremost. Did you forget that little detail?”
“I needed Reese for backup.” And Reese had chosen not to tell
her. Logan drank more coffee, impatient with the delay.
“I could have supplied the appropriate backup.”
“Unexpected things happened. When I realized I could grab
Yates, I had to act fast.”
“So you somehow stumbled on Rowdy Yates? Is that what you’re
telling me?”
“Sort of.” Logan rubbed the back of his neck. It was going to
take more than a dose of caffeine to set him right tonight. “I was working on my
contact—Rowdy’s sister—”
who even now could be in danger,
damn it
“—and he broke into my apartment.”
The lieutenant’s eyebrows lifted. “The apartment you’re using
for cover?”
“Yes.” Had some of Andrews’s cohorts grabbed Pepper as
insurance, to keep Rowdy from talking? Fear for her safety kept his thoughts
churning, all but obliterating his tactical reasoning. “I think he was somehow
on to me, or he was just being extra cautious. Whatever his reason, he was
probably hoping to find proof of my identity.”
Speculation narrowed the lieutenant’s gaze. “And Reese just
happened to be hanging around to assist in the arrest?”
Here’s where the lie got iffy. “I overheard Pepper on the
phone, and from her side of the conversation, I made some assumptions.” Logan
held up a hand. “I wasn’t positive of what I heard or I would have contacted you
immediately. Hard to believe Rowdy would be that ballsy, you know? I asked Reese
to be there mostly as a precaution.”
Setting down the coffee, she pushed away from the table to
pace. “A precaution that paid off.”
“We have him.” How valuable that’d be, Logan didn’t yet know.
“I’d like to get back to questioning him.”
“You do that.” She turned to admonish him. “But this time, you
will keep me informed of every single detail. Is that understood?”
“Of course.” They left the room together, the lieutenant headed
for her office, Logan headed back to Rowdy. He’d get the information he needed,
even if it took all night.
And then he’d find a way to get Pepper.
* * *
R
EESE
HAD
JUST
FINISHED
his hushed phone call in a
dark corridor when an officer intruded. Never a real moment of privacy, he
lamented, not in a police station.
He dropped his cell back into his pocket and faced the younger
man with an expression of curiosity.
“Sorry to interrupt, Detective Bareden, but there’s someone at
the front desk who wants to see you.”
“Who is it?”
“No idea, sir. She asked to see her brother first, and when the
sergeant told her that wasn’t possible, she insisted she wanted to talk to
you.”
The tiredness he’d felt a moment ago evaporated. “Fascinating.”
He started down the long hall with anticipation. “Go fetch Detective Riske, too,
will you? I’m guessing he’ll want to be in on this.”
“Sir?”
He wasn’t about to waste time explaining. “He’s in an
interrogation room. Tell him you’ll stay behind and keep an eye on his quarry,
okay? Make it fast.”
Reese left the confused officer and lengthened his stride to
the front of the station. Just as he rounded the corner, he drew up short in
disbelief.
No way.
Before being noticed, he studied her nose, the shape of that
stubborn chin, and he almost laughed. Incredible, but it was her.
And yet, it wasn’t.
In that body-hugging getup she looked…fuck-tastic. Great ass,
even better rack. Long legs, tiny waist. A face that’d make a guy fantasize.
He couldn’t wait for Logan to join him. Hands in his pockets,
Reese strode forward. “Miss Yates?”
She jerked around to face him, and he soaked up the
tsunami-force sex appeal. Light brown eyes sparkled with vitality. Not the
reserve Logan expected. Not gentleness or timidity.
This gal was bold and ready to take on the world.
Reese whistled.
She firmed her shiny lips and tossed her hair—hair that looked
freshly tumbled, as if she’d just crawled out of a lover’s bed. Reese nodded.
“I’m impressed.”
She drew a breast-expanding breath that pulled his gaze back to
her chest. “I need to see my brother.”
“No can do. Not yet anyway.” Reese didn’t bother hiding his
interest in her new look. He perused her from head to toe and back again. “Logan
is still questioning him.”
Hands on shapely hips, she let him look. “You don’t understand
what you’ve done.”
“I did it under Logan’s direction.” He shrugged. “He has
questions that need to be answered. That’s all.”
She closed the space between them to poke him hard in the
chest. “You’re both fools.”
“Ah, ah,” Reese rebuked. “No striking the detective.” He
removed her hand and then held on to it for good measure. No way did he want her
walking off before Logan got a look at her.
As to that…he maneuvered them around so her back was to the
hallway. Better to let Logan get close before she spotted his approach.
“Stop that.” All but vibrating with frustration, she planted
her feet and then tried to free her hand.
Smiling at her, Reese held on.
She relented with an indifferent shrug. “I need you to give
Rowdy a message for me.”
And from behind them, Logan said, “Pepper?”
She stiffened—and didn’t turn to face him. Reese watched her
color rise, saw her eyes narrow and her jaw clench.
“You sent for him?” she asked as if it didn’t really matter, as
if she didn’t really care.
“Of course.”
Her gaze glued to Reese’s, she asked, “Well?”
He lifted a brow.
“My brother. Will you give him a message from me?”
Reese let out a long, aggrieved sigh. “You’re stealing my fun.”
Bodily, he turned her to Logan.
And yes, the look on Logan’s face was worth it.
Logan opened his mouth but then closed it again to move nearer
to her. Eyes flared, body tensed, he said again, “Pepper?”
“I’m not talking to you.”
“Typical female response,” Reese said.
“Is that really you?”
She held silent.
“Damn. What did you do with yourself?” Logan reached for her,
and she popped him hard in the shoulder.
More in surprise than pain, Logan drew back.
“Or,” Reese said, almost laughing, “maybe not so typical.”
After glaring at him, Pepper gave her attention back to Logan.
“No touching,
neighbor.
”
“She sneers well,” Reese said, and they both ignored him.
“I don’t understand.” Logan visually devoured her. “What are
you doing?”
“Being
me.
” She thrust up her chin.
“What? You thought you were the only one undercover?”
“Jesus.”
Logan couldn’t seem to stop looking at her long enough to speak
coherently, so Reese said, “She’s plotting something, obviously.”
“I’m only here for my brother.”
Confused and now annoyed, Logan shoved close despite the threat
of her hostility. “I’ve been worried about you.”
She didn’t back up an inch. “That’s a joke, right?”
Molars sawing together, Logan all but heaved. “It’s true, damn
it. You were supposed to be safe and sound at your apartment. I left men to
watch over you. I
told
you I’d be back to talk.”
She snorted. “You also told me you were a neighbor. You told
me…a lot of things. All of them lies.”
Logan softened. “Not all.”
“Screw that! I won’t believe anything you have to say.” Almost
desperate, she zeroed in on Reese. “Will you tell Rowdy something for me or
not?”
Reese opened his mouth—and Logan rudely elbowed him aside. “I
already told you, if you have something to say to your brother, you can damn
well go through
me.
”
Nose to nose with him, Pepper said. “Fine.” It was Logan who
got poked in the chest this time. “Tell him I’ve got it covered. Tell him not to
worry.” And then, more tentatively, she added, “Tell him…it’s my turn.”
Reese didn’t understand that cryptic message at all, and he
doubted Logan did, either. Whatever she meant, it couldn’t bode well for
anyone.
The sounds of the station escalated as five men came in
together to file complaints. Drunk and disorderly, somewhat battered from an
apparent brawl, they shouted and caused quite a disturbance while sharing
accusations, the occasional shove and threats both physical and verbal.
As if oblivious, Logan and Pepper continued to watch each
other.
Finally Logan nodded. “I’ll tell him.”
She turned to go.
“Stay.” Logan reached out for her, but at her killing glare, he
let his hand drop without making contact. “After I talk to Rowdy, I’ll let you
know what he has to say.”
She shook her head. “I already know what he’ll say.”
“Pepper.”
She stopped again.
“I don’t want you to worry.”
“No, you just want me to be a pawn, to play my part without
getting in your way.”
“No—”
“There’s a lot between us, all of it bad.”
“No,” Logan said with more force.
“But I’ll tell you what, Detective.” She gave him a hard stare.
“Give Rowdy my message, and we can call it even.”
“Not that easily.” Logan flexed his fists. “I know you’re
pissed, Pepper. I get that.”
She laughed, shook her head and began backing up.
Reese almost felt sorry for Logan as he struggled with impotent
frustration. Before it got better, it was going to get a whole lot worse for
him.
He had tried to tell Logan that. He’d tried to head off the
inevitable. But Logan wouldn’t be derailed from his hunt for justice.
And now they’d all have to improvise.
* * *
“Y
OU
AND
I
ARE
GOING
to talk.” Careful not to spook
her, Logan closed the distance between them. Even while trying to think ahead,
to plan ways to keep her close, he marveled at her makeover.
He’d known that on the inside, she was as hot as a woman could
be. But standing there now in skinny jeans and a tank top, no bra, her hair
loose and mouth shiny, she all but took his breath away.
Now he knew what she’d hidden from him, and he could even guess
why.
“Whether you want to hear it or not,” Logan said while sidling
nearer, “I need to explain a few things to you.” Like how he’d gotten caught in
his own trap, and how much she’d come to mean to him.
Pepper kept him in her sights, always maneuvering so that he
couldn’t move alongside her. “Believe me, it’s clear enough. I might be
disgustingly gullible, but I’m not totally dense.”
“You’re not gullible.” But she had been eager for affection—and
he’d abused that need.
“Not anymore, no.”
She looked ready to bolt, so he said, “I have no plans to hurt
your brother.”
“Another joke, right?” Her laugh held no humor. “You’ve already
hurt him, probably more than you’ve hurt me—not that you’re keeping track, are
you?”
Her sarcasm wore on him. She looked so different,
acted
so different. Did he actually know her at all?
“As soon as I get my answers, Rowdy can get on with his life. You have my
word.”
She glanced at Reese, then back at Logan. “If you actually
believe that, then you’re in over your head and just don’t realize it. But do me
another favor, okay?”
She seemed to have softened her stance; she looked less wary,
maybe even exhausted. Right now, he’d promise anything to ensure her safety.
“Name it.”
“Don’t trust anyone. If you truly mean for my brother to get
out of this whole-hide, then
you
watch over him.
You, and only you.”
Reese pretended affront. “Miss Yates, are you accusing me of
something?”
Her attention stayed on Logan—and she backed farther away.
“Keep your cell on you, Logan, okay? I’ll be checking back off and on.”
“Give me your number and I’ll call you after I talk with
Rowdy—”
“Not happening.”
Logan gave up with a sigh. Gently, hoping she wouldn’t cause a
scene, he said, “I’m sorry, honey, but you’re not leaving.”
This time her laugh almost scared him.
Still smiling, she said, “The thing is, Logan, I’m already
gone.”