Collision

by Sofia Aves

  Cal dipped his head, his lips covering mine in a deep kiss that set every inch of me on fire. I shifted, pulling him down to me, but he caught my wrists, encompassing them completely. He pressed my hands down onto my pillow — his pillow — and I whimpered in protest. I needed to touch him.

  “Goodnight, Mila,” he murmured, releasing my hands to brush his fingers over my lips, and walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.

  I lay in his bed, surrounded by the scent of him — who was I kidding, his scent was all over me — and wondered how in the hell he’d just given me the most powerful orgasm I’d ever experienced.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CAL

  I had breakfast made for the girls when they emerged from their respective rooms. Ashley was still in the clothes she’d worn the day before. Mila, mercifully, had changed into jeans and a blue top. It dipped at the neckline, but not dangerously.

  Thank god it was nothing like what she’d worn last night when I’d found her face down on the kitchen floor. Keeping my hands off her in those skimpy shorts that stopped at the top of her thighs had been too much to resist. Then I’d pushed the line with her, again.

  No. This time, I’d crossed way over it.

  I placed a mug full of coffee in front of her. She murmured a quiet thanks, hoisting herself onto a bar stool. Mila played with the handle, turning the cup in small circles, refusing to meet my eyes. My hand covered the top of the mug, and she stopped, looking up in surprise.

  “Mila,” I started, then had no idea what to say. She held my gaze, and I was pleased not to see fear or rejection there. I smiled, lifting my hand. She snatched the hostage back, peering at me over the rim as she took a long sip.

  “I have to go into the office, try to sort some of this mess out. I should be back around five, and I’ll get takeaway for dinner, so you don’t have to look after everyone, all day.” She made noises of protest, but I waved them away. “No buts. Tomorrow, the boys are going to come around to babysit. Micah’s bringing his girl as a ‘female presence’,” I used her words from the day before, “and I’m going to take you somewhere.”

  Mila looked across the breakfast bar at me, surprised.

  “Where are we going?”

  I winked, hugging Ashley who had attached herself to me like a limpet. “Just something we need to do together. Danny and Micah will be here to watch you, okay, and I think you’ll like Gina,” I spoke to a pair of pigtails that tickled my chin.

  “Okay, Cal. Can I do Micah’s hair this time? It’s so silky.”

  I snorted, but the kid was right. Micah spent more time and products on his locks than any decent man should. Then I remembered that Danny had punched me, and decided to throw him under the bus instead.

  “Why don’t you do Danny’s nails, first? I’m sure he’d love a bright selection.” A smothered laugh-turned-cough caught my attention. I raised my eyebrows, pretending innocence. “What?”

  Mila waved me away, spluttering into her coffee. I grinned, slipping Ashley off my lap. She found a spot in the middle of the lounge and began to set up more ponies than could possibly fit in a regular-sized backpack. I waved at her.

  “I swear she’s got a bag like Mary Poppins.”

  “I’m impressed you know who that is.”

  “Is that all it took? I had a childhood, you know.” I placed a set of keys in front of her, spinning the bar stool with my foot, so she faced me. “They’re for an emergency. Oh, Steph’s boyfriend should come by this morning, I think, to fix the alarm. Just buzz him in — I showed you how to do that yesterday, for the boys? He’ll fix whatever he needs to, but you’ll be fine with him. Okay?”

  She nodded, but my stomach clenched. It took me a moment to recognise fear — that I wouldn’t be there if she — either of them — needed me. If I didn’t absolutely have to go into work, I wouldn’t, but I needed everyone in one place while we sorted our strategy out. Logan’s game was changing, and we had to get ahead of him. I didn’t want to do that in front of the girls.

  Mila wasn’t the only one afraid. The more I cared for her, and of course, I already doted on Ashley, the more I had to lose if I screwed up this case. It was time to put it to bed.

  Fear wasn’t something I came across in myself very often, and it was unsettling to realise there were so many factors out of my control. I took a deep breath.

  “Mila, please, stay up here, stay inside. Please don’t take her out onto the balcony. The glass is reflective, and tinted so that no one can see inside during the day — even with the lights on.”

  Mila nodded again. I squeezed her arm and left before I did something inappropriate, stepping over pillow paddocks and purple ponies grazing on a carpet of glitter.

  By the time I got into my truck, my chest clenched again, scenarios of finding the place empty when I got home tearing through my mind. I wanted to slap myself, to not go into the office, to stay at the apartment and play ponies on the carpet with Ashley — to just spend time with her and Mila. But before I gave in to any luxuries, I needed to work out Logan’s game.

  I searched for the tell-tale black sedan as I left my apartment, but it wasn’t around. I drove in circles around the surrounding blocks, then conceded I was a paranoid fool.

  The boys were heads down, tails in the air when I walked in. Danny sent me a cheeky grin, and I sighed, wondering how long it had taken him to hook up with Mandy. At least she was his problem, now, not mine. Providing she didn’t spin any more shit to him or cause drama with the rest of my team. What she did in her own social time, I really didn’t care, so long as she was far away from me.

  Steph hung over the divide, chattering at everyone, though no one was listening. They were all too bloody busy to be gasbagging like a pack of old wives. A sharp look sent her scuttling back into the reception area.

  I stood in the centre of the room, trying to get the cogs turning to figure out what Logan was going to do next. I didn’t know where he’d been last, and it was frustrating — every day, he was several steps ahead while we fell further and further behind.

  He’d broken into Mila’s house, of that, I had no doubt. Ransacking it though — destroying her personal items — that was something new. Taking the sketches she’d drawn of his eyes, wasn’t; it fit the egotistical bastard’s profile perfectly. He’d be grandstanding, thinking she was obsessing over him. My stomach clenched. I shook my head to clear it.

  Think, Dane.

  He’d found her, but how? After all this time, the only thing that had changed was that she’d met me, but did that mean he had tabs on me? I doubted it; maybe the timing was a coincidence, but I was sure there was something I was missing. Her car repairs? No, I knew those guys as well — part of Micah’s monster truck crew, they worked on the blue giant he drove around town, though the damned thing was barely road legal. They were good guys; rough, but good-hearted — just a little extreme with their hobbies.

  It wasn’t that. Think. Think. There was a connection somewhere.

  The black sedan was his too; I guessed they’d been scouting for Mila’s house when they came across her as an easy target. The question was, why hadn’t they grabbed her then? They’d found me the night before — perhaps that was it — someone, maybe the brother, Joey, that Black thought had been spotted had seen us on our walk.

  They were rambling coincidences, and I still didn’t like it. The off feeling was growing. I’d spent hours staring at the pictures of Logan; filtering through data, basically throwing pins at the map and hoping my guesses were accurate because that’s all we had right now. Liam would be back in a few days, and I wanted to have a few decent leads to work forward with.

  Now that Mila and Ashley were involved; finding Logan was becoming a time-critical venture. The girls couldn’t live with me forever — what we were doing wasn’t technically above board. It tugged at my heart to think of the big space empty, except for me and my obsession. No glitter in the carpet, no Mila in my bed. Damn it. I growled, yan
king back my chair.

  Get it together and think with your brain.

  Someone coughed, and I looked up to see the boys staring at me, apparently coming to the same conclusion as I had. I logged into my terminal, waiting for the info dump that would load everything I needed. In the meantime…

  “What have you guys got, anything?” Three heads raised, then lowered. “Micah, that partial plate Mila gave us, you got anything on it?”

  Micah spun to face me with a grimace.

  “Yeah, and no, boss. It’s registered to an Ethel Masters, who lives in the city. Went round yesterday and got accosted by nine cats. Place stank of piss. Anyway, she hasn’t held a licence in the last forty years, as she’s almost completely blind. Never had a car registered at that address, and lets the neighbour use her parking space for his yuppie BMW bike.”

  I grinned; Micah hated anything mainstream. Apparently, cats made the list too.

  “Okay, so that’s something — the records have been changed. We need to find where and who. Danny, you got that?”

  Danny nodded, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

  “Alright, anything else — Black?”

  Black turned to me, very slowly.

  “Yeah, I think I do.”

  My heart jumped.

  “What?”

  “The brother, he’s definitely around. Got this off a shopping centre feed, looks like he’s been buying electrical stuff. Can’t see what but we’ve got the time, and we can try to match the bank and purchase records from the shop.”

  I nodded. “Alright. That’s great, man, thanks. You and I are heading down there. I’ll leave you two still looking for that car and anything else that comes up. Okay?” I looked over at Danny and Micah. They may be junior members of the unit, but they were better cops than most.

  Heads nodded around me. Black grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and followed me out the door.

  I paused at the front desk, leaning over it to find Steph painting her toenails on the floor. I coughed to get her attention, and she smiled widely, jumping up without managing to flash me, which I thought was quite a talent, given the length — or lack thereof — of her skirt.

  “Can you get your boyfriend to check the alarm he put in the other day? The stupid thing has been on the blink, and I want to make sure it’s working right.”

  Steph’s smile was ridiculously bright for this time of the morning. Maybe it was worth having her on the front desk, after all.

  “Of course, Cal! We have to keep the girls safe, now, right?”

  My shoulders jerked, though I tried not to let the shock show.

  “Who told you….” I didn’t need to finish the sentence — her gaze shot back towards the office, right to Danny. I swore under my breath. When would the bugger learn not to shoot his mouth off? Between Steph and Mandy…oh, shit.

  “It’s okay, Cal, I won’t say anything! They’re safe there!” Steph’s voice was shrill, and I cringed. Hell of a weapon the woman possessed, especially when it was used in close quarters.

  Black lounged against the doorway like a hard motherfucker, though I knew he wasn’t — not all the time. He raised his eyebrows — he’d objected when I’d put Danny on the team, and I’d been on the back foot ever since to prove my choice. But the boy had skills; he just needed a bit of direction to develop his potential. I glared at Black and turned on my heel.

  “Danny, man, we need to talk.”

  Micah was up and out the door so fast I didn’t have time to move. For the biggest guy in the unit, he was surprisingly fleet when it called for it. He ducked his head as he passed me — apparently, this occasion was worthy.

  “Man, you keep shooting your mouth off like that, it’ll cost us the case. Or a witness. You can’t tell Steph that sort of shit — she’ll shout it from the rooftops. And Mandy is worse. You don’t say a word to anyone outside this office, outside of this room right fucking here, from now on. Clear?”

  If I had to plaster the door with a sticker that read, What goes on in the Incident Room, stays in the Incident Room, I would.

  Danny leaned back, hands in the air.

  “We’re good, dude, c’mon. You said you were over her.”

  “It’s got nothing to do with Mandy or anyone else. It’s about being a fucking professional and keeping your mouth shut. I’m starting to wonder if we’ve lost Logan at some point now because you’ve said something to the wrong person!” I ground my teeth, glaring at the younger man.

  “Now, wait just a–”

  “You want to argue? Log it with Liam when he gets back. Tell him your sob story, and he’ll tell you what I just have. Damn it, Danny. Just…get the damned job done.” I stalked back to the elevator, Micah clapping my shoulder as I passed.

  “I’ll talk to him.”

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak to anyone civilly for the moment. I was furious with myself for losing my temper, and even more pissed it had been at Danny. There were bridges to build, and I wasn’t ready to burn him — not yet, anyway.

  I needed to keep it cool to catch Logan, but this sort of dissent was what he was famous for. We weren’t the only unit to fail to catch him — but I swore we’d be the last to hunt him.

  The drive to the shop where Logan’s brother, Joey, had been seen was short but silent. We parked, and I killed the engine.

  “Say it.”

  “Say what?”

  I snorted. “Whatever’s eating you.”

  “You are.”

  “What?” I looked at him askance.

  “I get that Danny fucked up. But you come down hard on him like that, you do it in private, with the door closed. You bust him down in front of everyone, and his confidence lags; he won’t do the job, not well. The team doesn’t work.” Balck leaned back, drumming his fingers on the passenger door.

  I clenched my teeth, wishing I had never asked. Black was right, though. I hadn’t handled that well. I began to apologise, but he stopped me.

  “I get it. You got a little girl and Mila in your apartment, and you want to be there to keep them safe. But we gotta get this job done, man, gotta stop him.”

  “I know.”

  The shop assistant happened to be the same one who’d served Joey. When I dragged out an old photo, the kid nodded, poking the flimsy paper.

  “Yeah, him. Freaky dude, always staring. Shorter hair, though. Bought rolls of wire and tape, said he was stocking up to do Christmas lights. But what he bought wasn’t for that sort of job. It was more like he was rewiring a house or a building. So much stuff, he’d never use what he bought on his own.”

  I thanked the kid and turned to Black.

  “Where’s he going to hit? You heard him — Joey bought enough stuff to wire a building, but for what? Is he bypassing security systems, or getting cameras in there? Where, though.”

  I scuffed the ground, frustrated. Black stopped.

  “What?”

  “He’s back here, right? He hasn’t been in this town for five years. Let’s check if there’s something big happening — something he wants that’s coming in or being held here.” He resumed walking. “Maybe check Central again.”

  It came out casual, but I knew by his tone he was holding back, waiting. The thought that Logan might hit Central a second time…I scrunched my eyes closed, my brain kicking in. We used to call him Lightning Jack, in the beginning, because he never hit anywhere twice. That was his pattern. His profile centred on building blocks like that. Was this time different? Something felt off, that much was clear. I nodded.

  “Look into it.”

  I spent the afternoon trawling through the week’s data on Logan looking for new patterns, for something that stuck out, something I’d missed. The boys did their jobs, Danny quiet at his desk on the far side of the room, working with his back to me. A bridge I had to rebuild that would take more time away from looking for Logan.

  I resented that, but to catch him, I needed everyone at their best, with no more distra
ctions. That didn’t just mean Danny; I included myself in that list, too.

  I stood, stretching, and wandered over to him.

  “You training after work? I could use a decent sparring partner.”

  Danny shook his head; eyes fixed on the screen.

  “Nah, man, said I’d have dinner with…” he let the comment hang. I finished it in my head. Mandy. She’d be a sore spot, as long as either of us let it stand.

  “Danny. I really don’t care for her. She’s all yours, believe me. We good?” I tapped the back of his chair to get his attention.

  ‘Yeah…” Danny tapped frantically at his keyboard, distracted by his screen. “Ah, fuck it!” He slammed his hand to the desk and stood up. “I gotta go for a walk. I’ve been trying to trace that hack, but it’s fluid. Like someone’s moving the target every time I aim at it.”

  “You’re doing good, Danny. You’re the best; otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”

  He finally met my gaze and held it for a moment before he nodded.

  “Thanks.”

  “No worries. Walk it off, whatever. I’ll leave soon, just want to download this for tonight.”

  “You should get some sleep. Or, maybe not sleep, but…”

  I jabbed at his arm, but he dodged, faking.

  “No seriously, Dane. Get some rest. You can’t live on fumes forever.”

  I was in the elevator on the way back up to my apartment, before Danny’s words truly registered. I hadn’t realised the entire team knew I worked at home each night, searching for Logan in my sleep, half slumped over my desk. Uncomfortable with the thought, I added it to the growing list of things I’d missed this week.

  They were the best — that’s why I’d selected them. I was sure we all knew more details about each other’s personal lives than was usual for a unit like ours, but an operation like Niffler that ran on so long — it was close work. I just hoped none of us would burn out before we finished it.