“We’ll see. I’m ready to go home now, though.” She’s defeated, but I won’t let her give up. Especially if there’s something I can do to make it work.
We head home, my hand never leaving hers the whole way. The somberness in the truck leaves a gaping hole in my chest that doesn’t ease. Even when we make it home and out of the truck.
“I’m going to take a bath. Thank you, Easton. You always seem to be here for me when I need it the most.” She kisses me once we’re in the house.
“You do that. I’ll bring you a glass of wine as soon as I get off the phone.” We part ways, her heading up the stairs and me veering off to my home office. It’s situated right as you walk into the house, giving me the most boring view of the street.
I go inside my office, which is set up much as it will be in the office building I recently purchased. This one only has two monitors instead of the wall of screens I’ll have.
I boot up my system, and while it’s loading, I make a call to the man that seems to always be there in my time of need. It almost makes me regret leaving Nighthawk Security. Not quite, though. If I didn’t leave there, I wouldn’t have found Cam. She’s the one thing that’s been missing from my life for a long damn time now.
“Yo,” Slade answers in his typical fashion.
“Hey, you got a minute?” I ask. After Cameron’s run in today with her boss, it solidified the niggling suspicion I’ve had in the back of my mind since the phone call she received yesterday. Something isn’t adding up, so I’m making the call.
“I can make time. Does this have anything to do with Cam’s situation?” he asks, and I hear the rustling of papers in the background.
“Yep, I’m running a background check on Cam’s boss, Mary, as we speak. Seems like she has a hard-on for her. I may need you to work your magic on Mac, though. You must have more sway with him than I do.”
“Let me know what you find first. Then we’ll go from there. Have you checked the hotel cameras already?” he asks.
“Yeah, and it’s been a bust. I haven’t checked the cameras leading to the penthouse yet. Can you do that? Seems like someone thought it was a good idea to trash it after I left, and the blame was put on Cam,” I grumble into the phone.
“While you do the background check, I’ll get into their server.” We put each other on speakerphone. The click of our fingers meshes into the background noise. Running Mary Smith on three different background checks is taking a while.
“Could this woman have a more common name?” I grunt.
“You could be looking through this shit. It’s a logistical fucking nightmare. Remind me not to stay there when I come to visit,” he grunts.
What seems like hours later, but is actually only minutes, Slade says, “Bingo. Looks like her boss was the last one to enter and leave the penthouse suite.”
“Thank fucking God. Now I just need to see if we can place her at Cam’s house. I wonder if we could lift her prints somehow. Mac said all they had were inconclusive prints.”
“I’m not sure we’ll need that yet, but when you and Cam make a statement to Mac, you can tell him everything that’s happened. It may get him up and to the hotel, especially since they’re taking money from her. Most hotels would press charges, so none of this is adding up.”
My computer pinging in the background has us both quiet.
“Mother fucking shit, you will not believe this,” I grunt.
“What?” Slade questions.
“I got a hit. You may want to put Mac in on this call. I can’t believe we didn’t connect the dots earlier. This woman slipped under so many radars. How has she not been caught yet?”
“What the fuck did you find? You know what, just email it to me. I’ll take care of it on my end, and if Mac needs you, he’ll stop by your house. Call me back if you need anything,” he rumbles. I can hear the anxiousness in his tone.
“Thanks, Slade. Sending the email now. We’ll be home all day.”
“Sounds good. Keep your phone handy. Mac, I’m sure, will be out there in a couple of hours.” He hangs up.
“Fuck,” I grumble. I’m about to have to hand Cam another devastating blow, right when she’s in the tub, naked, wet, and I’m sure there are bubbles all over her body. The only good thing about this news is, she’ll be clear of everything, and maybe Mary will find herself behind bars for the shit she’s pulled before this.
I grab a beer and pour a glass of wine for Cameron, then march up the stairs. I hear Cameron humming quietly, something she does when she’s lost in thought.