“We had this idea that Alex took you to the bank to either drop off the evidence, or show you that it’s there,” Broadway says, walking me through the night of my accident.
He grabs Ryder’s laptop, setting it beside my plate. In three clicks, he pulls up a map overlayed with a labyrinth of Xs and lines.
“This is where you crashed,” he says, pointing out a spot. “And this is your house. Now this… this is where the car was stationary for a few minutes.”
“The bank,” I say so he knows I’m following.
“Yes, exactly. It’s high rollers only. Deposit boxes, private vaults, top-notch security.”
My finger hovers over the spot, before trailing along a line that ends where we crashed. “I was with Alex at the bank…” I whisper.
“So it would seem,” Ryder confirms. “The car doesn’t stop anywhere else. Well, aside from the tree it wrapped itself around not twenty minutes later.”
“Yeah, and then Alex is dead, you lose your memories, and we’re hunting evidence,” Broadway finishes, slapping the laptop closed just as Carter comes out of the control room, his temper no longer scorching hot. “Do we need more reasons to check the one lead we have, Boss?”
“It all fits, Carter,” Koby chimes. “You can bet your ass Alex showed Hailey how to access the deposit box in case things went sideways.” He looks at me for support. “You said he was getting paranoid, right? That flashback you had at Noretto’s…?”
“I don’t think paranoid is the right word given he was right. Why do you assume he was dropping the evidence off? What if he picked it up?”
Carter moves Broadway out of the way, taking a seat beside me. “If he did, it would’ve been in the car when you crashed. You didn’t stop anywhere else.”
“So? Can we check the fucking bank now?” Broadway asks, raking a hand through his hair. “You know we should’ve done it ages ago. We need to start ticking things off the list. And if things go south and Vaughn does take it out from under us… I think I have an idea.”
Carter narrows his eyes at him, a nonverbal conversation passing between the two men. I have no hope of understanding what’s going on, but the other two catch on without an issue.
“Bold,” Koby muses, popping a cherry tomato into his mouth.
“What?” I ask, looking between them.
“Broadway’s suggesting using you as blackmail,” Carter explains, knocking the breath out of my chest.
Not because of what he said, but because he said it. The cold, hard, brutal truth. Instead of discussing it without my knowledge, he’s letting me in, refusing to lie again.
“What would that look like?”
All four heads whip to me so fast it’s comical, their expressions ranging from deep shock to utter amusement.
“Damn… I didn’t think you could ever surprise me,” Ryder chuckles. “I was wrong.”
“I want this to be over as much as you do. Broadway’s right, we can’t wait for my memories to come back. My head’s not playing ball right now. And this place might be bulletproof, but it isn’t soundproof. I heard Broadway say Rhett’s nearly found us.”
“You’re safe, Hailey, I—” Carter cuts in, but I shush him with a wave of my hand.
“I stopped being safe the day Alex walked into my life. It’s worth checking the bank, but if you can’t access the deposit box and we risk losing the evidence, that’s not good. Would blackmailing my dad help?”
“It’ll only stop him snatching the evidence. Just because we’re refusing to gun down the bank staff, it doesn’t mean anybody else will be so polite. Not everyone has Dante’s moral compass.”
“But if Dad retrieves the evidence first and hands it over in exchange for… me.”
Carter swears under his breath. “No way.”
“Why? It’s the perfect backup plan. Just think about it.”
“I have and the answer is no.”
“Why the hell not?! You went through all this fucking trouble with me to find the evidence and now it might be in the palm of your hand you’re refusing to close your fist?”
He spins, the turmoil of emotions raging inside him crackling in his dark eyes. “If getting the evidence means losing you, it’s not fucking worth it.” He combs his fingers through his hair. “And don’t fucking swear, Hailey. It sounds farcical when you’re dressed like a schoolgirl.”
My eyebrows meet in the middle. I don’t understand. Why doesn’t he like this outfit…? It’s cute. It’s girly. It’s… a long way away from what Nash loved. My cute dresses used to set his teeth on edge.
I chew my cheek… maybe he really wasn’t pretending to be someone else when we were at Lakeside.
“That’d be plausible if you had any idea what’s really in this evidence,” Ryder says, eyes darting between everyone in the room before settling on Carter. “You don’t know how much Alex gathered. What if Aalyiah dug deep enough to bury you, us, Dante… what then?”
“Getting it means keeping Hailey safe, out of the line of fire,” Broadway adds, stroking Carter’s overprotective side.
“No,” he clips again, staring right at me as a muscle feathers his jaw. “I’m not using you. Not again.” He rises to his feet, dropping a napkin onto his plate. “We leave on Sunday.”
“Where are we going?” I ask at the same time as Broadway jumps to his feet, clearly unappeased.
“Sunday? That’s five days away, Boss. We might not last five days here. Rhett hit the Oregon safe house last night.”
“And thanks to the bug on Apollo’s phone, we knew about it forty-eight hours ahead. We can’t half-ass the planning for this job, so we’ll need until Sunday to square it.” He looks over his shoulder, halfway up the stairs already. “Don’t pack a bag just yet, Hailey. For now, you’re staying right here. Koby will keep you company while we go check that fucking bank.”
My mouth goes dry, words turning to dust on my tongue. I don’t want to stay here without him. Swallowing hard, I shepherd the unease tumbling my stomach. “You said I was there with Alex. Don’t you think I’d be useful? Maybe I’ll get a flashback and remember how to access the evidence?”
“Not bad,” Ryder praises with a cunning smirk.
“If we get confirmation the evidence is there but we can’t access it without you, Koby will bring you to me,” Carter says, and cutting the conversation, he disappears upstairs, every one of his steps radiating tension.
“Why do you get to stay?” Broadway huffs, glaring at Koby. “I’m a way better shot than you.”
“You wish.”
“I’m his second. I should stay with Hailey.”
“If he told you to stay, you’d whine about him leaving you behind. Now he’s taking you, you’re whining about not staying. There’s no pleasing you, is there?”
Using their bickering and inattention as cover, I slide off the stool and follow Carter. His bedroom door is cracked open. He sits on the bed, checking his phone.
“Don’t lurk outside,” he says, without looking up. “What’s wrong, pretty girl?”
I enter the bedroom, leaning against the door as it closes behind me. “How long will you be gone?”
“Two, maybe three days. Once I have a plan in place, I need to stop in Chicago to get the green light.”
“Green light? From Dante?”
“That’s how it works. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Many things: for one, I wonder how safe I’ll be here without him. Rationally, I know the entire property is wired. The house is bulletproof and probably bomb-proof when it’s locked down, but… all of that doesn’t make me feel as safe as Carter does.
But I just ask, “Will I be okay here?”
His features soften as he rises to his intimidating height, crossing the room to crowd my personal space. Curling his finger under my chin, he tips my head up so I’ll meet his eyes.
“I wouldn’t leave you here if I wasn’t sure you’d be safe. The place will be on full lockdown while I’m gone.”
There’s enough conviction in his tone to obliterate a small city, but it doesn’t make me feel any better… and I realize that, when it comes to my safety, I don’t trust anyone more than Carter. Not even my own father… not even Nash.
“Hailey,” he tuts, swiping his thumb along my jaw. “What else is on your mind?”
“My dad,” I whisper. “When you find the evidence and give it to your father… what happens to my dad?”
“Nothing. Killing your father would cause a huge rift in the way people like us operate. If Rhett wanted Charles dead, he’d be dead by now. And so would you. He never would’ve sent me to break you. He would’ve sent me to kill you.”
So I should be grateful to the cops who eagerly work with the mafia, helping them along. I owe them my life…
“If…” I pinch my lips, my cheeks heating. I’m pushing the line here, but Carter keeps insisting he wants my trust, so what have I got to lose? The worst he can do is say no.
“If… what?”
“If my dad calls, or you call him… could I talk to him? Just for a minute. I can do it on speaker and—”
He presses his finger to my lips, stamping a kiss on my forehead. “Took you long enough. I thought you’d never ask.”
My head tilts slightly, a silent question hanging in the air when he moves away to open a drawer in his bedside cabinet, He pulls out a cell phone.
“Charles is the only contact in here.” He swings back to me and pushes the phone into my hand.
I stare at him, stunned beyond belief. “You’re giving me a phone? What if I call the police?”
“You will.” He smirks. “Your father’s a cop, remember?”
“I meant dialing an emergency number.”
“I know what you meant. Ryder worked his magic on this phone the first night we got here. I thought you’d demand to talk to your dad sooner. His number is the only one you can dial and the call can’t be traced.” He moves back, leaving the phone in my hand. “Even if you could call someone else, you wouldn’t.”
I cock an eyebrow despite the weight of his words making my palms sweat. “Why not?”
“Because you don’t want to leave, Hailey. Tell him I said hi.”
A small chuckle falls from my lips as I roll my eyes at him. His eyes darken in an instant, a greedy look crossing his face. He goes feral when my eyes roll, and back at Lakeside I’d recant, all apologetic for making him hard in an inappropriate situation.
Not since we arrived at the safe house, though. I deliberately roll my eyes at him any chance I get. Now, I add a smile and a wink, slipping out of his bedroom. My mind fills with Carter fucking his hand while he thinks about me.
Good… I hope he does. I hope he decides it’s not enough and stops acting so noble.
