Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Mark stood and smiled. “You two discuss it and come up with something that works for both of you.” He handed Brooke a small thumb drive. I snatched it from his fingers and wanted to break it into pieces.
I scowled but walked Mark out. I glared at him then shut the door in his face. Through the wood I heard him chuckle.
The fucker.
Even though I was annoyed with him, he was a good guy, and he was trying to make the world a safer place. But my focus was on Brooke. If the man was behind bars, then she would be safe. But at the risk of her own safety?
My inner wolf was pissed. I spun around to go and talk Brooke out of it, but she was right there. Furious as I was, I didn’t hear her come over. “I don’t like this, sugar.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” she said, her voice soft. “I have to help put this guy away.”
“You have done enough. It’s not safe for you to go to work on Monday with this guy running around loose. Who knows how many other henchmen he has working for him? Maybe they’ll be waiting for you there like they had been at your house.”
“You killed them, remember?” she countered. “How many men can one drug kingpin have?”
I gritted my teeth because I didn’t actually know. I was aware that bad guys didn’t like loose ends.
She sighed. “Look, I don’t really want to go to work on Monday, either. Not after walking into my house and finding two guys there.”
She closed the rest of the distance between us and set her hand on my bare chest. Fuck, that felt good.
“But if I’m the one who can get the evidence to put him away for good, then I’m going to do it. Mark’s right, I know where it all is on the computers.”
Fuck. She’d said right before Mark knocked on the door that she needed to take care of herself. I’d agreed, but I hadn’t meant this way.
“The only way you’re going there is with me,” I said. There was a little snap of possessiveness in my tone, and I knew she heard it.
Even so, she huffed. Huffed! I wanted to spank her ass for that sound alone. “That’s ridiculous! I can’t go to work on Monday with you as my bodyguard. Look at you. No one’s going to believe you’re my client or whatever.”
I considered the options because I wasn’t backing down.
“We could go now,” she offered, which made me instantly protective. “It’s Saturday night. The office is closed, but my keycard will get us in, and no one will be there. I can get the information Mark needs.”
I drew in a breath and let it out slowly. She had a valid plan, dammit. It was an accounting office. I pictured cubicles and filing cabinets. Boring as hell. It wasn’t tax season, so I doubted anyone would be working late or on the weekend. Grudgingly, I asked, “You really want to do this, don’t you? The bowling guy’s also dead. It’s best if you just stay here in this penthouse.”
“Forever?” She looked at me with something like determination. “It’s the right thing to do.”
I hated that she repeated Mark’s words.
I closed my eyes briefly and nodded. “Okay. Let’s go help the fucking DEA.”
19
BROOKE
* * *
I was nervous but, perhaps, not as much as I should. I’d worked for Marks and Fields for two years. I spent more time in this building than my own house. It was familiar. Still, I felt sneaky, like some big goon was going to pop out from behind a filing cabinet at any time.
I knew Roy wasn’t happy about coming here and doing Mark’s work for him. He’d been quiet on the ride over in his van. The building that housed the accounting office was on the west side of town in a cluster of older buildings. They were all brick and three stories tall with ample parking. All of the spots were empty, so he decided to park one building down and then walk over.
My badge offered me access through the building’s main doors, then into the office on the second floor. Easy. All was quiet, but it was like that when the office was full. Accounting wasn’t a team thing. I cut through the main office and down the hall, flipping on one of the overhead lights. It turned on the fluorescents down one side of the main room.
“My office is over here.” I pointed as I led the way, a big looming bodyguard behind me.
Once in my room, I went around the desk and sat down, waking up my computer by moving the mouse.
I glanced up at Roy, and he was taking in the small space. I wondered what he was thinking about it. The term office was a little generous for my space. The desk took up most of the room. There was no chair for a visitor to sit in. Six filing cabinets lined one wall, which was ridiculous in the age of everything being digital. But clients sent in actual shoeboxes loaded with receipts, and it took a while for the interns to slowly scan everything. The space didn’t even have a door. I pretty much worked in the file room.