“I don’t care!” Zy spewed the words, but he was clearly lying.
As he gripped Tessa and dragged her out back to the bunker, Trees scooped up her laptop, phone, and keys, then followed closely behind.
When they reached the opening, his buddy lifted the heavy metal lid to the underground shelter and gave Tessa a shove. “Get in.”
She panicked, digging in her heels. “What are you going to do to me? What’s—”
“A lot less than you deserve.” Ignoring her screeches, he hauled her against him and descended into the shadowy lair.
“No! Don’t. Stop, Zy! Please…”
With a heavy heart, Trees shut the door on them, then retreated to the kitchen, where he opened Tessa’s laptop. Zy was counting on him to start assembling the timeline for their bosses.
The log-in screen flashed. Of course he could bypass it, but what the hell would he find? Would Zy be able to handle it?
Before he could start answering those questions, Zy emerged from the bunker again. Trees took one look at his pal’s shell-shocked face in the back porch light and went running. If Zy had looked twisted in knots before, now he looked bent and broken.
Trees fought back the urge to throttle pretty, backstabbing Tessa. “She’s destroying you.”
“I don’t know how to fucking stop it.” Zy looked near tears.
Trees dropped a supportive hand to his friend’s shoulder. “If you were able to do the forensic dive on her computer, I would interrogate her for you…”
But that wasn’t possible. Trees had only basic interrogation skills. Zy knew the dirty ones, and he’d never had a problem doing what needed to be done. Then again, he’d never fallen for the enemy.
“I know.”
“You’re not up for this. We need to call someone else.”
“There is no one, man. The bosses are wrapped up in saving Kimber. Kane has Valeria. One-Mile…”
Trees reared back. “You going to let that crazy son of a bitch near her?”
“Fuck no. Besides, I have to report something to the bosses in an hour. And if Tessa is at all involved in Kimber’s kidnapping—”
“They’ll call the police.”
Zy nodded grimly. “I can’t stop it.”
“The universe owes you for this, man.”
“I need a drink.”
Instead of reminding him that he shouldn’t imbibe on the job, Trees led his buddy into the kitchen, straight to the whiskey.
Zy knocked back three fingers with a tortured sigh. “Have you started going through her things yet?”
“No. I know I’m going to find more, and I hate to pile on right now.”
“This is probably like ripping off a Band-Aid—better to do it all at once so the sting goes away faster.”
“Maybe. I think what’s killing you now—besides the fact she ripped out your heart—is the not knowing. Exactly what she did. Why she did it. Why she dragged you into it.”
“There’s a part of me that keeps insisting this isn’t like her, that she would never hurt anyone—much less everyone—without a damn good reason.”
“You mean other than money?” Trees raised a cynical brow.
“I know that’s enough reason for most people, but…” Zy shook his head. “Or maybe she snowed me so fucking bad I was willing to believe everything, even her goodness.”
“You have an instinct about her, and they aren’t usually wrong. One of the things I’ve always admired about you is your people skills.”
“You only think mine are good because yours suck ass.”
“Mine do.” They ribbed each other a little before Trees went on. “Straight up? You can get to the bottom of this faster than anyone. I said before that I think she loves you. And I still think it’s true…in her way. Go use her own tools against her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Emotion. Appeal to her good side. Get under her skin. Hell, peel off her clothes and fuck her brains out if that forces the truth from her. I can give you hard evidence, but only she can fill in the gaps and explain why.”
Zy snorted. “If what we suspect is real, Tessa only has a passing relationship with the truth. Why should now be different?”
Trees paused and weighed the wisdom of venturing into territory he’d never charted with Zy. But desperate times and all that… “Did you ever ask yourself why I have handcuffs handy? You already asked once why I had rope in my nightstand drawer. You know I’m a control freak. Do the math.”
Zy’s expression told him the instant the truth hit. “You’re a Dominant. Like the bosses.”
Trees nodded. “Keeping it real, man. I think that’s your instinct, too. But if you’ve never partaken, it’s cool. Just…um, word of advice? When you want the truth from a sweet little thing like Tessa—”
“I think we’ve determined she’s not sweet.”
Trees shook his head. “Don’t confuse her acts with the woman herself. She’s gotten herself tangled up in this shit for reasons you and I may never fully understand. But your instincts are right. She’s naturally sweet. A pleaser.”