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“Why else would Mendes want to see her so badly in person? He probably tried to look her up online, social media, something—”
“But she doesn’t have any,” I say.
Fuck. He’s right.
“Exactly. Maybe he wanted eyes on her to see if he recognized her, or if she recognized him, and then he’d take care of her.”
“So there could still be someone after her.”
“Yes, but only if they see who she is.”
“So she stays here until Mendes is in custody.”
“And whoever else is involved.” He goes back to the list of names and dates. “I don’t know what these mean, but there are only a few names here. Because this Gavin Xavier is on here, I’m assuming it’s not a list of victims, but instead a hit checklist.”
“This is a fucking mess,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
Forge sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, then closes the folder, pulls out the drive, and shuts the computer down. He stands and faces me.
“Good job on this,” he says seriously. “If it wasn’t for you, who the fuck knows what would have happened.”
I smirk. “That’s why you keep me around.”
He doesn’t smile back though. “I keep you around for a lot of reasons, Pierce.”
“I know that, Forge.”
“Good. Because I know I’m shit at showing it sometimes.”
“You’re getting better.”
“I’m trying,” he admits. “I really fucking am.”
I pull him in for a hug. “Let’s go put this in the safe.”
The safe is hidden in a false panel in the wall of the laundry room. We put both drives in there and head into the kitchen. I pull out a box of brownies from one of the cabinets and Forge and I work together to get them made and into the oven. Because what else is there to do after finding out your captain is a murderer? Just bake brownies.
“Something smells good,” Raewyn says as she comes into the kitchen.
Her red hair is dark from being wet, looking almost brown. She’s in a pajama set with cats printed all over them in different phases of sleep. It’s thin enough that I see her nipples poking through and my dick instantly takes attention.
“How was your bath?” I ask, trying to occupy my mind.
“So good,” she says as she takes a seat at the table with us.
The scent of vanilla and honey is mixed with her natural orange scent that seems stronger than usual. I assume Forge realizes the same thing because he gives me a look. I give a small nod for only him to notice. She’d already told us that her heat was coming within the weak, so I’m sure she’s aware. We now know we need to keep track of the way she smells to see if we can figure out when it will come so we can be here. It’s important that we go to the Texas Rangers tomorrow to get them this drive and explain everything, just in case her heat hits sooner. Because if it does, we aren’t going anywhere.
“I’m making brownies,” I offer.
“Oh, those are so good. Do they have chocolate chips in them?” she asks excitedly.
“Uh, I don’t think so,” I say. “Sorry, I didn’t know you liked them like that.”
“It’s okay.” She shrugs. “Next time we can do it that way. It’s how Trina does them, and they’re so good. Oh, speaking of, can I call her?”
“We already told you that you don’t have to ask, Rae,” Forge says, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Well, I’m not just going to dig into your pocket to get your phone out.”
