I got out of the car and slammed the door. I had my laptop with me, which had everything I knew about Anna’s rape and the people responsible on it. Getting Leet involved was a bad move, but it was the only one I had right now.
“Leet,” I said, rapping on the door. “It’s me.”
“Come in, it’s open.”
I opened the door. My mouth dropped. Holy shit, she was beautiful. She was only wearing sweat pants and a tee shirt, but I wanted to take her off that couch and slam her against the wall. I wanted to feel myself inside of her. Memories of the night before flashed through my mind.
I repositioned the laptop in front of my erection. Her gaze dropped, and she rolled her eyes.
“Okay, firstly, last night: it shouldn’t have happened, and it will not be happening again—at least, not anytime soon. Okay?”
I nodded, only hearing “anytime soon”. My heart pounded as it translated that into I will eventually forgive you.
“We need to look at everything you have so far. What do you know about these guys?” she asked, turning her attention back to her own laptop.
I smiled. She looked so cute when she was concentrating on something. I loved the way her nose scrunched up like that. And how she’d scratch behind her ear when something was bothering her.
“Mace?” she prodded, staring at me.
“Right. Sorry,” I murmured. I sat down and opened my laptop, navigating my way through the files until I found the one I needed. “Okay. I don’t know that much.” It wasn’t that I didn’t know much, it was more that I was all over the place. I had no idea where to go next.
Leeta sighed. “So, tell me what you do know.”
“In the letter Anna left me, there was a name. She suggested he might be able to help me understand. There was no number, just a name. It took me months to track him down. Turns out, for the right amount of cash he was happy to hook me up with the job.”
“So, just like that?” Leeta scrunched her nose. “What’s his angle?”
“What do you mean?” The guy got ten fucking grand out of me. I’d say that was a pretty damn good angle.
“Why would this guy help you, Mace?” She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “People don’t do shit like this without an agenda. You should know that better than anyone.”
I tensed. This was the first time since we’d met that she had made me feel inferior to her. Others had been doing it all along, but Leeta? Never.
“I’m not an idiot, Leet, but what other option do I have right now?” I snapped. “This guy is my only link. He is the only connection I have to this group right now, so excuse me if I’m gonna take it. Besides, all he cared about was the amount of cash I was willing to part with.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I was just . . . I don’t know.” She let out a breath. Setting her computer down on the coffee table, she sat forward, her arms resting on her knees. “Okay, so what do we know, then?”
“I know there are others. All three clients I had—”
“Three?” she cut in. Her eyes widened. “There’s another video?”
Shit. Oh shit. My mouth opened, and no sound came out.
“Mace, I swear to God, if you don’t—”
“Yes, Leeta, there was a third . . . job. Last Thursday night.”
Her mouth dropped open. She stood up and shook her head, her hands reaching to the back of her neck. “Wow,” she muttered. She turned to face me. “Where is the video?”
“Leet,” I began, already knowing my pleas were hopeless.
“Come on, Mace. You think I want to watch you fucking another woman? Guess what, I don’t! But if we are going to have any chance of finding these guys, then I need to watch that damn fucking video.”
She was right. I knew she was right. I could watch that thing a thousand times and still not see what might be the only clue. Leeta had fresh eyes, and she also had training in this kind of thing.
I located the file and pressed open. Wordlessly, I pushed it down the coffee table to her. What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t sit there while she watched that. I stood up.
“Sit the fuck back down.” My eyebrows shot up. I’d never heard her speak with such authority toward me. “You think you get to leave while I watch this? No fucking way, Mace. You are going to sit there and watch this with me.”