Ruthless Bastard (Dangerous Love 3)

“Terrific,” Rhett grumbled. “We’ve got bikers that are outsmarting cops up and down the East Coast, and we’ve got no ammo to stop them. That’s what you’re telling me?”

Asher frowned. “Right now, that’s what I’m telling you. We’ve got Bernie’s word about the bikers, but that’s not going to hold anyone. Bernie isn’t the most credible of witnesses now, considering he kept this information from us. How about on your end?”

“The rookies are still making calls to identify the perp with the tattoo,” Rhett explained. “Nothing’s come from that yet. I’m not seeing a headquarters for the Wild Dogs, though it looks like they hail from New York City. I’ve got a call with the NYPD, and I’m sure I’ll have more to go on after that.”

“When’s the call?”

“Tomorrow. The lead in the gang unit was away sick today. He’ll be back in the morning. We’ve got a call scheduled for nine.”

“Good,” Asher said.

A cop walked by the door, eating one of the donuts Rhett had brought in today. “I spent the last couple hours scouring the Internet,” he said, turning his focus back on Asher. “From what I read, the leader of the Wild Dogs is Rocco Martinez. He’s as smart as King, but far more dangerous. Any charge that comes his way never sticks. His estimated net worth is a few hundred mill, and he owns properties all along the coast.”

“Which, let me guess, are all incredibly successful?”

Rhett nodded. “When you take out the competition, what else could happen?”

“Dirty bastards,” Asher growled.

Rhett rubbed at his eyes again. At the moment, he had no way forward, and he hated that, feeling the exhaustion settle in deep. He’d slept only four hours on the break room’s couch after Bernie left this morning, until the shift change woke him up. “Where’s Boone?” He should be there. This was his sister’s case, and ever since this afternoon, he’d vanished.

“Had to go somewhere,” Asher said.

“That somewhere has nothing to do with the Wild Dogs, right?” Rhett was on edge. He could only imagine how Boone felt.

Asher shook his head. “He had to do something with Peyton. Not sure what, but for right now, things are stable. Go be with Kinsley, and we can start fresh in the morning. We don’t have a jumping gun to work off of. Everything’s in the works. We need to go home. We need to sleep.”

Rhett agreed with a nod, feeling the heaviness of his eyelids. “Good plan.”

He flicked off his monitor and rose, shoving his chair underneath his desk, as Asher said, “Besides, there’s something wrong about someone spending this much time working on their birthday.”

“You know I hate my birthday,” Rhett commented.

Asher snorted, rising. “Yeah, I know. Where’s Kinsley?”

“Back at her place with Hank,” Rhett reported. “He’s waiting for me to pick her up.”

“Better hurry,” Asher said with a sly smile. “We all know how much the chief likes waiting.”

Asher headed for the door, and before Rhett could decide if he was making a mistake, he said, “I heard the baby’s heartbeat today.”

Slowly, Asher turned around, eyebrows raised. “Did you?”

“Yeah.”

A long pause. “And how was that?”

Rhett hesitated, trying to put into words what that moment had been like for him. He never thought he’d have children. He never wanted them. But something shifted at the sound of that steady heartbeat, a realization that maybe what Rhett had been missing were things he didn’t know existed. That strong, regular rhythm belonged to his child, a part of him. And when he looked at Kinsley, lying there, smiling so brightly, he hadn’t felt edgy; he’d felt completely solid and secure.

At Rhett’s silence, Asher gave him a warm smile and offered, “The best birthday gift you ever could have got?”

Of course, Asher had the words. “Yeah, buddy, exactly that.”

Chapter 15

A few minutes past seven that night, Kinsley slid the curtain aside and glanced out the window, finding her driveway still empty. If growing up around cops had taught her anything, it was not to let the job or the danger or anything else get in the way of important days. Because if you did, there would be no celebrations. Ever. Even when a case needed to be investigated and became top priority, it had to be put aside for a couple hours on special days. Family mattered. And Kinsley had learned a long time ago after her mother left, that no matter what, family, at times, had to come first.

After her midwife appointment, she’d spent all day on the telephone, calling people she’d never met before. And all those people now stood in her living room. Out of any in their inner circle, she had the biggest space for parties, which was why they usually held them at her place. Rhett had a lot of military buddies, she’d come to discover. Boone told her about the guy who fixed her bar, and then she got more names after that. And even more names as the calls continued. Until suddenly her house was full of men.