He thought of the way he’d left Chloe. Of the way she’d stared at him. Of the things he’d said. Of what he still feared he might do. “Chloe…it’s not good for us to be together now.”
“Jesus, man. I have to ask, as a cop and a friend…are you high?”
Joel glowered at him. “Not funny.”
“It wasn’t meant to be a joke. It was meant to be me trying to figure out why you’re suddenly insane. Let me be clear. Chloe is your best hope. You want to know who took you? Chloe can tell you. From where I stand, she’s the only one who actually was looking for the killer. You want to find him? Chloe will do it.”
Chloe can’t be hurt. “I don’t want her in the crossfire.”
Cedric just laughed, as if Joel was the most hilarious person he’d ever met. “Seriously?” His lips kept twisting. “That’s her favorite place to be. If you don’t know that, you don’t get her at all.”
Joel was worried he didn’t know her. If Chloe had kept this truth from him, what else had she hidden?
“I’ve got people waiting on me. I need to talk to witnesses and deal with an entire bomb scene. And, of course, King Broussard is in the wind—which doesn’t look suspicious at all—so that just makes my life harder.” Cedric adjusted his tie. A bright yellow one today. “This has been fun. But let’s not do it again, got me?” His gaze was suddenly serious. “I know that it’s a lot to handle, but you’re not doing this alone. You have friends in this town. I hope you consider me one of them.”
“You just spent the last five minutes basically calling me a dumbass over and over again.”
“Right.” Cedric winked. “Because you are. And if your friend can’t call you on being a dumbass, who can?” With that, he headed back for the entrance to the hospital.
Joel stood frozen in the parking lot. A sudden weariness filled his body, as if all of the energy had been sucked out of him. Ever since he’d heard the truth from Chloe, he’d been running blind. Moving on rage and fear. His priority had been to get away from Chloe because…
I’m a threat. If Gordo is right, I’m a threat. Chloe shouldn’t be around him. And…
It had fucking hurt. Knowing that she’d stared at him, that she’d fucked him, and she’d kept the truth. This wasn’t some small omission. It was a BFD. He’d trusted her completely. That trust had been rocked.
Where the hell did they go from this point?
***
“Why isn’t the boyfriend here?” Kingston finally asked as they braked at the edge of a tall, narrow building near the end of a dead-end street. “I thought you were inseparable.”
“He found out that I’d lied to him about something big, so he told me that he never wanted to see me again.” She killed the engine. “The footage is inside?”
“Yes. I personally drop off a flash drive copy each day here. Sure, most people are probably just wired to have things sent—or stored—in drifting clouds…” He made a little swish motion with his fingers. “But I’ve found that online security is hacked far too often. Files can vanish in a snap. It’s better to have separate backups for what I need.”
“People can always just steal your flash drives. It’s not like it’s a perfect method of protection.” So if it wasn’t about protection…Chloe cocked her head. “You give the flash drives out as proof, don’t you? That way, you have your prey just where you want them. It’s not about online security. It’s about a small delivery that shows you have control.”
He smiled at her. “What was the something big you lied to Joel about?” His eyes widened dramatically. “Did you cheat on him? If so, I am impressed and wounded. Impressed because I was sure you had an extremely naughty side lurking beneath your buttoned-down exterior. And wounded because you could have come to me. I would have been happy to help you on the cheating front.”
She didn’t look away from him. “You’re one of the few people I can’t get a good handle on. I know you were law enforcement. I know you are heavily involved in criminal activities, but I’ve always felt like you had your own code you followed. You only played with people who deserved your game.”
He was the first to avert his stare.
“Are you still sticking to those rules?” she asked him.
“Yes.” A grumpy hiss.
“Then why are you trying to delay instead of taking me inside to see the footage? Or are you afraid of what I’ll see?”
He shoved open the door. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
Those words were such a lie, but she wouldn’t call him on them. Not at the moment. They marched for the door, and she took note of the various security cameras watching them. He typed in a code at the door’s control panel, used a fingerprint scan for security, then they finally eased inside. He immediately went for the second level, and she followed right behind him. Their steps seemed to echo in the building.
“A man murdered his entire family here back in the 60s. Folks who lived in the place after that reported hearing children crying. Whispers. No one would stay long.” At the landing, Kingston turned to the right. “So I got the place for a steal. Ghosts never bother me.”
Another door waited. One with an additional security pad. Soon they were inside that room, and Chloe did a quick double take at the sight that greeted her. So many computers. So many files. So many carefully arranged monitors and stacked DVDs and flash drives. “No cloud, huh?” Bullshit. She didn’t buy that he wasn’t teched out to the one hundredth degree.
He slid into a desk chair. Booted up the system. His fingers flew quickly over the keyboard. “You know about my past?”
“That at sixteen, you tapped into the Pentagon? Sure, I know. One of the many fun, interesting tidbits about you that I’ve managed to discover.”
He kept typing. Footage popped up on the screen in front of Kingston. “Can’t view it from just anywhere,” he explained. “I make certain it is only accessible here. Neat little program I created.”
She leaned toward him. Noted the date and time of the footage before him. Her gaze sharpened when she saw the players in the VIP room. Interesting. But for now… “I want to see the footage from when my brother was at the Serpent. Start there. Play through slowly.”
He did. She saw her brother head to the bar. Saw him make an order. He chatted briefly with the bartender, then Reese looked toward the VIP level. When he glanced upward, a blonde woman slid onto the stool next to him. Her face was averted, but something about her felt familiar. As Reese kept staring at the VIP level—probably trying to figure out who the other players up there would be—the blonde slid her hand over the top of his drink. It was a quick, subtle move.
“I’ll be damned,” Kingston whispered.
They both already knew that, so she wasn’t sure why he felt that moment was the appropriate time to point it out. “Keep playing. I want to see what happens.”
Reese drained his glass. It wasn’t long before his body began to slump. The blonde started talking with him. She pulled him from the stool. Led him through the crowd. He stumbled behind her.