“I think you’re the one who’s way off.”
And Trees would, unless someone showed him proof.
Zy cursed again. What the fuck was he supposed to do? “I don’t want to argue. You gotta help me, man.”
“Do what?”
“Prove you’re not our mole.” And that Tessa isn’t, either.
“Still can’t get the bosses off your back?”
“No. They texted me just before we pulled away from the Wests’ place, asking what I had for them.”
Trees raised a brow. “What did you tell them?”
“I haven’t answered yet.” Zy didn’t know what the fuck to say.
“Avoidance isn’t going to make those bastards stop asking.”
“You’re pointing out the obvious.”
“Tell you what. The clues you’re looking for should be on our network and on our teammates’ computers, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me at them. When we get back, I need to head into town to pick up groceries anyway. I’ll spend a few hours at the office and look through the network, just to make one-hundred-percent sure we haven’t been hacked. Then I’ll start taking apart computers. Josiah and Cutter seem like the easiest because they’re both gone. I’ve got Josiah’s computer in my duffel in the back of my truck. He gave it to me this morning before he slid his arm around Maggie’s waist and waved goodbye with a big ol’ smile. And Cutter turned his in the day after Christmas, before he took off for LA again with Shealyn.”
“That would be great.” It might not turn up anything, but it would at least allow him to look at other possibilities.
What are the chances that the guys leaving to get married were on the take?
Zy tried not to put a number to that, because he was afraid it would be near zero. But it wasn’t Tessa; he knew that in his heart.
“Thank you,” he added.
“For pitching in?”
“For not hating me.”
“I wasn’t thrilled. I didn’t say anything at first because I was too pissed. Then I realized you wouldn’t have searched my place without cause. When I tried to imagine what that was…it wasn’t hard to figure out who would put you up to spying on me or why. And once I had that answer, I figured you were as pissed as I was.”
“Maybe more so. They’ve had me ‘working’ on this almost full-time for nearly three months.”
Trees laughed. “Is that why you’ve suddenly become a hard-core Sudoku champ?”
Zy felt heat rush up his face. “I knew you weren’t guilty. And when they refused to give me another assignment, I had to pass the time doing something… How did you know?”
“An educated guess. They’re paranoid. A few months back, they asked me to look at everyone’s online profiles and make sure no one was surfing porn or gambling online.”
That was news to Zy. “What did you find? You gotta tell me.”
“Bryant was an absolute Boy Scout, just like Walker calls him…until he met Shealyn. Then he was all too happy to look up the sexiest pictures of her he could find. It seems like the only things One-Mile gets a boner for are guns and a certain preacher’s daughter.”
Or she wouldn’t be pregnant. “And Josiah?”
“Nothing…except an occasional trip to this dirty little site focused on spanking videos.”
Zy could see that. It wasn’t something he’d ever been into, but he also hadn’t tried… “That would explain why Maggie seemed like she had a sore ass the day we met her.”
Trees grinned. “It would.”
“And the bosses?”
He shook his head. “Logan and Hunter both have pictures of their wives I won’t talk about, but I’m pretty sure that’s their version of porn. Joaquin…he doesn’t have anything on his machine. I’m not shocked. He’s a cool customer, but…”
There was something going on in those deep waters. “For sure. So…do you want to tell me why you keep rope in your nightstand?”
Trees merely smiled. “I don’t.”
Zy laughed with his best friend, like old times. But he was anxious to get back home—both so Trees could start proving who their slippery mole was and so Zy could confront the bosses and he could finally be with Tessa.
“Then you better start driving, or I’ll start asking more questions.”
“Good luck with that.” Trees pulled off the shoulder and onto the road. “But don’t worry. We’re going to figure out who’s been selling our secrets to Montilla and his folks.”
“If anyone can, it’s you.”
“I hope for your sake it’s not Tessa.”
Zy shook his head. “It’s not.”
After all, she’d still been on maternity leave when their first mission to Mexico had gone sideways. How could she have had anything to do with that?
Trees shrugged. “Maybe you’re right.”
But Trees didn’t think so. Zy heard it in his friend’s voice.
January 26
Zy made his way to the office before the sun had even risen. After a night of tossing and turning, he hadn’t seen the point of pretending to sleep anymore.
Today was the day, and since the bosses were usually here early, he’d come to have it out with them.