“Okay. Get Egan to request it. If he refuses…” He trailed off.
“We’ll hack in.”
“You might have to. He wants to help, but handing over his employee list might not sit well. I’ll do a little digging here too. None of our contacts matched up the sketch with a known entity. Their searches got no hits on the name. I think you’re right in assuming it’s fake.” He was quiet for a moment. “Proceed carefully. Don’t make him angry again.”
I told him about Raven’s idea for an argument. He hummed in agreement. “Not a bad idea. Might flush him out. With the right precautions, you might nab him and keep her safe.” He paused. “She’s brave, your lady.”
“She is.”
“And you really care about her.” It was a statement, not a question.
“She is it for me, Julian. I can’t imagine life without her now.”
He chuckled. “And another one bites the dust.”
“Big-time.”
“All right. Let me see what I can do. I have a couple more calls I can make.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up and walked to the windows, staring down on the street.
“Where are you, asshole?” I muttered.
I needed to find him.
Soon.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Raven
Hiding my anxiety, I smiled at Damien. “It’s all pretend, right?”
He nodded, the tension around his eyes obvious. Neither of us had slept much the night before, and this morning, we had both been quiet. Damien had made love to me in the middle of the night, his movements slow and gentle, his voice a low hum in the dark. I had lain in his arms after, trying to hold back my tears, feeling vulnerable and silly.
It was just a pretend fight. Egan was already in my apartment, having swept it for bugs. Damien had decided, during our fight, he would reach for the satchel and accidentally tear off the bunny. If Andy was watching, he’d think it was an accident. But not being able to track or hear me might spur him to follow me to the apartment. Meanwhile, Damien was going to disable the bugs Andy had planted and try tracing the manufacturer to find out who they were sold to if he could.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked.
“Yes. If it brings him to us, then yes.”
He blew out a breath, dragged me into his arms, and kissed me. Hard. His tongue, his touch, everything about it was possessive, claiming. Perfect.
He drew back, cupping my face. “Just for show.”
I shook off Damien’s hand. “You’re holding me too tight.”
“Stop whining.”
“Stop breathing down my neck. You’re suffocating me,” I hissed.
“Forgive me for trying to watch out for you,” he snapped.
I shook my head. “Did you hear anything I said to you last night, Damien? I’m tired of this!”
“You’re tired of this? You’re not the one having rocks thrown at her car or trying to help someone who keeps insisting they can look after themselves.” He sneered at me. “We both know you do a shit job at it.”
“I managed quite well before I met you.”
“Does the name Andy ring a bell?” he spat. “Jesus, you’re insufferable at times. You act like a spoiled brat.”
I turned and faced him in the park. We were close to the road and visible, yet there were lots of trees around us. Not knowing if we were being watched, listened to, or both, we made sure to keep our voices low, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. The last thing we needed was someone to come over and interrupt us.
“I act like a spoiled brat?” I repeated. “I’m living in reality. You’re running around acting like you’re James Bond. You run a security firm, Damien. Ex-cops who are too old to do much good but drink coffee, and mall security guards high on their own power. You’re not that big a deal. And I think you’re making the situation worse.”
His eyebrows shot up at my remark. I could tell he was trying to stay in the moment and not laugh at my description of Elite. We both knew it was anything but mall security guards.
He leaned closer, dropping his voice to a furious pitch. “Why don’t you show a little gratitude instead of attitude, Raven? You have completely lost touch with reality. You think you can keep yourself safe, little girl? You can do better on your own than with me? Be my guest.”
I crossed my arms. “You are just as bad as he is. You want to take over my life.”
“So you’ve said before. You want your life back to what it was before you ran to me for help? Go for it. I’m sick of being your knight.”
I scoffed. “I never thought of you as a knight, Damien. Maybe the court jester.”
“You ungrateful little…” He trailed off.
“Bitch?” I finished for him. “You keep calling me that. I’m tired of your orders, your overbearing attitude, and your scowling face. I’m done.”
“Meaning?”
I glanced around, hoping I looked surprised and pleased to see the taxi idling at the curb not far from us.
“Like I said,” I snapped. “I’m done. Leave me alone.”
I turned, and he reached out, grabbing at my bag. The bunny tore off in his hand, and I half ran to the cab, bending at the window. “Are you available?”
“Yep,” she replied.
I slid into the back seat, but before I could shut the door, Damien was there.
“Don’t do this, Raven.”
I grabbed the door handle. “Leave me alone, Damien. I’ll send for my things.”
I slammed the door, looking back to see him throw down the bunny and stomp on it in his rage.
I sighed and leaned against the back seat.
“Address?” The “driver” prompted. I was surprised to see it was a woman. We had agreed to pretend until I was in my apartment, even though Damien’s person knew exactly where I was going.
“Ah,” I said, worried. But she winked and touched the rim of her glasses, a signal Damien had told me meant I could trust the person.
I gave it to her and shut my eyes.
I already missed Damien.
My apartment smelled musty. The window had been repaired, and there was dust everywhere. All the blinds were shut tight. Egan relaxed on my sofa, a cup of coffee in his hand.
“How’d it go?” he asked.
“Fine.” I sighed. “I hated every minute of it.”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry. It was needed. You both know it’s not true.” He stood. “But for the record, I have never been a mall cop.” He glared at me. “That was low.”
I began to laugh, and he grinned.
“You were listening?”
“No, Damien told me. You did good.”
I sat down. “I don’t know what to do now.”
“You have to act normal. Like you are angry. What would you normally do?”
“Clean the apartment.”
“Okay. You clean one room at a time. Open blinds, so if he is looking, he sees you. I will go in the other room.”
“Okay.” I stood. “Was Damien all right when you talked to him?”