The only person she could rely on.
Making up his mind, Logan pulled the keys from his pocket.
“Together, we’ll convince her.” It was the only way he could think of to locate
her and to keep her safe.
Whether he liked it or not, his priorities had all changed.
Number one on the agenda was protecting Pepper.
After that, he’d get Morton Andrews, and the dirty cops, and
anyone else involved in the corruption.
Once Logan freed him, Rowdy flexed his hands and nodded at the
door. “Want to tell me how you’re going to get past that one? Because I don’t
think he’s going to willingly look the other way.”
Logan turned, saw Reese eyeing them through the door window,
and said, “It’ll be fine. Just follow my lead.”
“Not like I have a choice.” Rowdy followed him to the door.
“But if you’re wrong, if he hurts her, I’ll kill him.”
Logan didn’t correct Rowdy. But if Reese hurt Pepper, Rowdy
wouldn’t get a chance to touch him.
Logan would take care of it himself.
* * *
I
T
MADE
R
OWDY
EDGY
enough to be in a packed police station, but to
have to trust Logan to guard his sister, too? That was asking a lot.
Never mind that Logan Riske maybe had valid, very personal
reasons for tracking him down. And the detective did seem to genuinely care
about Pepper, and vice versa.
In Rowdy’s experience, cops were not his friends, period. They
protected the ordinary people, the middle class, the privileged few—and each
other.
Those forced to take drastic measures to survive? They were a
nuisance at best, disposable at worst. In his lifetime, he’d been referred to as
a troublemaker, a bottom feeder. To ensure he and Pepper stayed together, he’d
spent years skirting legit jobs. Once she was of age, he’d still felt compelled
to keep her as close as possible.
Didn’t take a genius to figure out what drove him; at an early
age, he’d lost everyone and everything important in his life—except for Pepper.
She was it for him.
Numero uno.
His entire world.
He’d die for her.
And he’d kill for her.
But God Almighty, he’d never wanted her to feel the same.
He and Pepper had spent their lives trying to steer clear of
the criminal element and cops alike. Neither fit into their lives.
Survival. That’s all they’d really wanted. Enough shelter,
enough food, comfortable clothes, occasional entertainment.
Safety. Security.
And for him, a warm, willing woman when the past weighed too
heavily on his brain. He needed nothing else.
He definitely didn’t need the steel-eyed official-looking gal
now showing her disdain.
“Detective Riske?”
They stood clustered outside the interrogation room. It was
clear that Logan hadn’t counted on running into the woman.
Angry tension all but vibrated off her petite frame. She was
more than a little pissed and not succeeding much at hiding it.
With worry for Pepper prodding him, Rowdy considered making a
run for it. But more than a few cops stood between him and freedom. If he ran,
they would assume him guilty of something—and he was. Hell, he was guilty of all
kinds of shit. Not all of it was illegal, but that probably wouldn’t matter much
in the big scheme of things.
Not in a police station filled with guys who got a stiffie over
carrying a piece. To him, it seemed that most cops were trigger-happy and
waiting for an excuse to exert their limited clout.
If he got himself locked away again, who would save Pepper from
herself?
Reese spoke up. “Lieutenant Peterson had hoped to join the
interrogation, but, ah, Logan, you’d locked the door, so…”
Lieutenant? Huh. Rowdy surveyed her and had to be
impressed.
Fury brought her forward so that she faced them all, one small
woman challenging a trio of big men.
Yeah, he was sexist. Not the worst of his faults.
In a clipped but icily polite tone, she ordered, “Gentlemen,
back inside if you please.”
For someone so diminutive, Rowdy noted, she carried herself
with enough brass to back up the attitude. She strode into the room he and Logan
had just vacated, and then stood there with the door open, waiting for them to
join her as ordered.
Damn it, they did not have time for this.
Reese went in first, and Logan, the mistrustful bastard, stayed
at Rowdy’s back until he entered.
“So.” She shut the door, crossed her arms and leaned back on
it. “What is this?”
Reese looked at Logan. So did Rowdy.
“I don’t have enough to hold him.”
Her mouth firmed. “Did he tell you who killed the
commissioner?”
“Apparently that story was blown all out of proportion by the
reporter,” Logan lied. “He didn’t see much and remembers even less.”
“But the reporter—”
“Must’ve jumped the gun,” Rowdy interjected. “He offered to pay
me for info, and I agreed. But he never came back, so I forgot about it.”
Unconvinced, the lieutenant narrowed her eyes. “The breaking
and entering? The apartment you were using?”
“He just wanted to see his sister,” Logan said. “And since he
wants to be helpful now, I’m letting that go.”
“I really do,” Rowdy told her, trying to sound sincere when
every beat of his heart made him more anxious to get on the move. If he didn’t
find Pepper soon, she’d get in over her head—or worse.
But first, he had to win over the lieutenant—so he’d turn on
the charm and see where that got him. Not a hardship. She was sort of cute in a
buttoned-up, too-rigid way.
When next the lieutenant glanced at him, Rowdy gave her his
wickedest, most intimate smile.
Her attention snagged on him for a longer look. After a lengthy
silence, she frowned. “And just how do you think to help?”
Since he had no clue what Logan wanted him to say, he shrugged.
“However I can.” The way he said it, sort of low and suggestive, brought color
to her face.
Reese coughed.
Logan stepped in front of Rowdy. “We’re going back to the
apartment to go over the time line, dig out what paperwork I have on my
computer, see if there’s any trail at all. We’ll try to match up dates, share
some photos with him, and see if he recognizes anyone who was with Jack right
before he was murdered.”
The lieutenant considered all that. Her big blue eyes met
Rowdy’s again. “You worked at the club?”
“Bouncer.” Rowdy shifted to the side of Logan. “I saw a ton of
people come and go. I remember many of the regulars. Maybe with some pics…” He
looked at her mouth, then back up to her eyes, and he smiled again. “Who knows?
Something might click.”
Her compressed lips softened, but she said nothing. After a
start, she turned to Logan with renewed purpose. “His sister was here?”
Both Logan and Rowdy went still; neither of them looked at
Reese.
“She was,” Logan finally said. “Briefly. When I told her I
wanted to interrogate him before she could see him, she bounced.”
“Where did she go?”
“No idea,” he said with feigned disinterest. “Probably back to
her apartment. Why?” Logan stared at her. “Did you want me to pick her up?”
The lieutenant waved that off. “No, no need for that. I’m sure
she’s been through enough tonight.” She emphasized that with a frown at Rowdy.
“Actually, I prefer you treat her with utmost respect and care. The last thing
we need is for her to lawyer up.”
“She wouldn’t,” Rowdy stated. “Too costly, and there’s no
reason, right, since I’m not under arrest?”
“And since he’s cooperating,” Reese added.
“Make sure.” The lieutenant encompassed them all in that order.
“I do not want the press to get hold of this, not unless we get something
concrete to go on.”
Rowdy let out a breath.
“I’m sure you understand the importance of keeping those under
investigation in the dark as long as possible.”
“Absolutely.” Logan waited.
Still not satisfied, the lieutenant asked, “Does anyone else
know he was here?”
“The three of us,” Logan told her. “That’s it.”
She scowled at Reese.
“Hey,” Reese said. “I can keep a secret.”
There were obvious bad feelings between the lieutenant and
Detective Bareden. Later, Rowdy thought, he’d ask Logan about it. But for
now—
“The night isn’t getting any younger,” Logan said abruptly.
“Hell, morning will be rolling around soon. I’d like to get going. So if there’s
nothing else…?”
The lieutenant opened the door and gestured for them to go.
Reese headed out, then Rowdy. Before Logan could clear the doorway, she caught
his arm.
“If Andrews has even a clue that we’re onto something, it could
mean another death. Yours,” she said. And then with a look at Rowdy, “Or
his.”
Or his sister’s, Rowdy thought, but he tried to keep his
expression impassive.
“Keep him, and his sister, under wraps,” the lieutenant
ordered. “Understand?”
Logan nodded. “Will do.”
She sent another frown toward Reese. “You better know what
you’re doing, Logan. All this coming and going, dead ends and loose ends. You’ve
had enough time. Wrap it up, and let’s move on.” And with that, she walked past
them all.
Alone in relative privacy, Reese turned to Logan. “So what’s it
to be? Leave me in the dark, or let me help?”
Rowdy knew how he’d prefer to leave it: trust as few people as
possible.
When Logan’s phone rang, they all froze. Rowdy held his breath,
but as soon as Logan answered the call, he knew it was Pepper.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A
FTER
ENDING
THE
CALL
, Morton placed
the phone on his desk and turned to pace the small confines of his office space.
Even at this ungodly hour, the club remained in full swing, both the first and
second floor crowded with men anxious to spend their money.
He expected his guest to show up any minute now. New ventures
would have been cemented. More money made. More power acquired.
He did not need this new problem. And that’s what it was: a
grade A, supernova problem.
“Motherfucker.”
Snatching the phone back up, he hurled it into a wall, narrowly missing one of
his bodyguards.
The outburst did little to vent his rage but caused quite a
reaction as others jumped, yelped and flinched. He paid no attention to them.
They were disposable grunts, there to serve him, to protect him.
The idiots had failed.
But they weren’t the only ones.
Rowdy Yates was alive and in police custody. That meant the cop
had failed him, too.
Glancing around at the bodyguards who, through orders, had a
certain look—a look that mirrored his own—Morton knew what he had to do now. It
was inconvenient but not as much so as prison. He’d handle this as he handled
everything else.
He would destroy the problem, bury it and move on.
* * *
L
OGAN
STARTED
everyone walking again while saying, “Pepper. Where are
you?”
She ignored the question to say, “I’m really burning up the
phone lines tonight, right?” She laughed, but he heard the strain and what
sounded like fear. “I’m going to keep this really short and sweet, so pay
attention. I’m going to the club.”
“No, don’t do that.”
“Too late. If you want Andrews, get your behind over here and
you can catch him in the act. Rowdy can tell you how to get in. But no fanfare,
Logan. Do not send in your police buddies, or you could get me killed.”
His heart lodged in his throat. While he walked fast toward the
lot where he’d parked, he infused as much calm into his tone as he could drum
up. “Listen to me, honey. Your brother—”
“If they hear you coming, I’m screwed. So seriously, Logan. If
you don’t want me dead—”
“You know I don’t, damn it!” He swallowed the ferocity and
tried for another dose of calm reason. “I want to protect you, I want—”
“Great,” she said, cutting him off. “So don’t screw this
up.”
And she disconnected the call.
His discipline shattered, Logan broke into a jog. “She’s going
to the club.”
Both Rowdy and Reese kept pace alongside him as they maneuvered
through the sally port and out to the lot. Rowdy grabbed his own cell but
muttered, “Damn it, she’s not answering.”
“For the love of…” Reese grabbed Logan’s arm, pulling him to a
halt. “This is insane. You go in through the park. I’ll circle around from the
other side. Whoever finds her first can head her off from doing anything
stupid.”
Rowdy started to protest, but Reese said, “Not a word from you!
We don’t have time to argue about it.”
Logan agreed. “It’ll take twenty minutes to get there, but
don’t use your siren.”
“Noted.” And with that, Reese jogged to his car.
* * *
F
ORCING
ASIDE
ALL
uncertainty, every ounce of hesitation, Pepper studied the setting before her.
She knew that guards protected Checkers not only from within but also from the
exterior, every minute of every hour of every day. Morton Andrews spent a small
fortune on security. Getting to him wouldn’t be easy.
After shutting Logan down midsentence, she’d set her phone on
vibrate. The last thing she needed was a call in the middle of her setup. She’d
already felt her phone buzzing, so that had to mean he was concerned, right?
Fortified by that thought, she started forward.
She prayed that she hadn’t entirely misjudged Logan, that deep
down he was just a good cop trying to find justice.
She had to believe that, because anything else was
unthinkable.
Anything else meant her brother might already be gone.
Several yards away from the club, she saw two goons, each
wearing an earphone, no doubt armed, chatting to each other while keeping watch
on all coming and going down the walk. In the business area, well-lit
establishments lined the street, everything from liquor stores to tattoo parlors
to restaurants and gas stations.
Neon signs flashed. Night owls laughed and talked, some outside
their cars, others hailing cabs, a few just loitering. No one should have paid
undue attention to a woman alone.
But with her gaze zeroed in on the men, they
felt
her approach—as she’d intended.
Without glancing away, Pepper walked right up to them. The one
closest to her looked her over with appreciation. The other faded back a little,
probably to keep the advantage.
Like a woman without a care, Pepper stopped before the biggest
goon. “I need to see Morton.”
A mean smile curled his mouth. “Yeah, you and a dozen other
women.”
Now, that was funny. Pepper copped a stance that she hoped hid
her jitters. “I seriously doubt any of them see him by choice.”
The condescending arrogance darkened to irritation. “Get lost,
honey.”
“Here’s what you’ll do,
honey.
Inform Morton that Pepper Yates is here, and if you behave, I won’t tell him
that you tried to send me packing. Because you know, if he found out, he’d
probably kill you for being so incompetent.”
Skepticism showed, but it couldn’t win out over the guy’s
healthy respect for Morton’s ruthlessness. He gave a slight nod, and his buddy
made the call. He spoke so softly that Pepper couldn’t hear him over the human
congestion spilling out of the club, but she knew he spoke to Morton’s number
one guy.
And judging by the look on his face, Morton had agreed to see
her.
Few at the club had ever noticed her while she worked there,
and the only photos available were the same that Logan had. Morton might not
recognize her, but he knew the name.
Because she was Rowdy’s sister.
And Rowdy had set himself up to be the snitch.
Too many people wanted her brother, all because he’d tried to
protect her. She
had
to do this.
“Let’s go,” the big goon said. He reached for her arm, but
Pepper stepped back.
“Morton is inside?” She assumed he was, but she needed it
verified. If she’d miscalculated, if they tried to stuff her into a car to
transport her somewhere else, she’d scream bloody murder.
It might not save her, but at the very least, others would
notice.
“He’s in his offices.”
“Above the club?”
Impatience shortened the goon’s temper. “Are you coming along
or not?”
Pepper got her stiff lips to form a smile. “I am.” She stepped
ahead of the guy and marched toward the club. Her heart beat in time to her
every footfall. The closer she got to the hubbub around the club, the sicker she
felt. Nausea churned in her stomach and her temples throbbed, making her almost
light-headed.
In an iron grip meant to hurt, the goon took her arm to steer
her around to a back entrance. Breathing too hard and too fast, Pepper willed
her feet to keep moving, one in front of the other. She didn’t want to be
dragged. She wanted,
needed,
to do this on her own
terms.
Morton Andrews had plagued them long enough. If Logan didn’t
get there in time, well then, she’d find a way to end the miserable cretin one
way or another.
At the back of the building, beneath bright security lights, he
stopped. One of the additional guards, stationed to keep anyone from intruding,
scowled. “What are you doing? You can’t bring her back here.”
“Andrews’s orders.”
“Ah.” There was a pause as the men looked at her with carnal
assumptions. They chuckled in shared appreciation of the situation.
The bastards.
Pepper didn’t look at any of them. She didn’t look at anyone
until the goon turned to her.
She saw his slack-jawed expression, the intent in his gaze; he
would frisk her, and she knew he would make it as unpleasant as possible.
Raising her chin, she feigned indifference—and suddenly a
deafening boom sounded above the clamor of patrons, music and conversation.
Gunshot?
Where? Who?
Glass exploded from third-story windows, raining down around
them. Acrid smoke clogged the air, burning her nostrils. No, not a gunshot.
Then…?
Before that thought could fully form, a shrill alarm cut
through the night.
Covering her ears, confused by the commotion, Pepper cowered.
At that first loud blast, her nerves had shattered. A mingling of fear and
confusion kept her heart racing double-time.
What had happened?
Weapons drawn, two other guards ran past them while talking
into headpieces. Screams sounded out front, followed by a stampede of bodies
fleeing the building.
Shoved to the side, Pepper fell to her rump, then scampered
back farther. She crouched there until in the midst of shouted orders she heard
the word
bomb.
Oh. Dear. God.
Everything suddenly made sense. She looked up to see smoke
pouring from the windows. Someone had exploded a bomb on the third floor of the
club.
The floor Morton Andrews used for his office.
The office…where he’d been waiting to talk to her.
* * *
“W
E
MIGHT
NOT
be able to find her.” Rowdy, who rode with him,
got more uneasy by the moment. “She knows how to hide.”
Logan had firsthand knowledge of just how adept Pepper could be
at hiding. Hell, he’d had sex with her and hadn’t gotten a good look at her. “I
hope you’re right.” Going a little too fast, he turned the corner. They were now
only minutes from the club. “She can’t very well launch an attack on anyone
while hiding away.”
A distant siren sounded, growing louder by the moment.
Rowdy sat forward. “Smoke.”
“What?” More sirens, joined by flashing lights.
“In the sky.” Rowdy’s shoulders bunched. He tunneled his
fingers into his hair, and his jaw loosened. “Son of a bitch…”
A fire truck pulled up to the club just ahead of them. Another
was already there. Firefighters launched into action. A small crowd milled
outside, some sitting on the curb, others bent double coughing. An ambulance
blazed onto the scene, but they didn’t see anyone injured.
“She wouldn’t,” Rowdy said. He grabbed Logan’s arm.
“She wouldn’t.”
Acid burned in Logan’s gut. His jaw clenched so tight that his
temples throbbed.
Smoke poured from the shattered windows of the upper floor of
the club. Most of the damage appeared to be in the back of the building. From
the look of it… “A bomb.”
Furious, Rowdy jerked Logan around. “Pepper would never do
anything like that, so get that idea out of your head right now.” Then,
breathing fast and hard, his expression bleak, he sank back. “Jesus, what if she
was inside?”
“No.” Logan couldn’t bear that thought. At the moment, his
brain felt almost numb. Possibilities chewed on his conscience, each one worse
than the one before.
He had to think. He had to figure out what to—
Rowdy lurched against his door, trying to get it open, but
Logan hit the locks.
Turning on him, Rowdy shouted, “She could be
in there!
She could—”
Logan’s cell rang.
Both men stalled. Logan jerked out the phone and opened it on
the first ring. “Pepper?”
“Logan.” Her voice was high and shrill. “Oh, my God,
Logan.”
“Where are you?” He scanned the area, looking for her, praying
he’d find her.
“There was an explosion.”
He heard the trembling of her voice. He heard the shock. She
needed him to take over, and that’s exactly what he’d do. “It’s okay now. Tell
me where you are.”
“There were people inside,” she continued, as if she hadn’t
even heard him. “Music and noise and I was…a guard was ready to frisk me, and
then he was going to take me in to see Morton.”
“So you’re still outside?” Was she even now being watched by
Morton’s men? “Is anyone with you?”
“The guards all ran off. At first, I wasn’t sure what had
happened, but then someone mentioned…a bomb.” She choked. “I don’t know if
anyone was hurt. I don’t know if Morton is still alive.”
“It’ll be okay, I swear.” He could hear her breathing, but she
said nothing. Going with sudden inspiration, Logan said, “Pepper, Rowdy wants to
talk to you. Don’t you dare hang up on me, honey. Do you understand? I’m giving
the phone to your brother.”
Rowdy grabbed the cell from Logan, saying in a rush, “Are you
okay?”
Rowdy hesitated, nodded, and as he slumped back in the seat he
closed his eyes. “Thank God.”
“Tell her to come to us.” Logan continued scanning the
outskirts of the area. Reese approached from the other side of the devastation,
walking, staring in amazement. He looked as stunned as Logan felt. “This is
dangerous, Rowdy. Too damn dangerous.”
Reese faded back into the shadows, out of the main flow of the
milling throng.
Rowdy hesitated, maybe thinking of a way to keep Pepper safe
from one and all.
The sense of menace amplified, the pressure built inside Logan.
“We can’t linger here, damn it. She’s a sitting duck. If anyone sees her—”
Making up his mind, Rowdy sat forward. “I’m with Logan, in his
truck. You need to come with us.”
Rowdy shushed whatever argument she gave—if indeed, she argued.
Logan couldn’t be sure.
“We’ll be safe, both of us, but not if you don’t get your ass
over here, right now.”
Logan kept watch while Rowdy told her where to find them.