by Josie Kerr
Pierce shook his head and blew out a breath. “Well, this day’s heading to the shitter already, so go ahead and give it to me.”
“Well, we pretty much know where Andrea Michaels is not, and that’s Wisconsin. She hasn’t checked in with her parole officer in three weeks.”
Pierce cracked his neck. He knew what that meant: Andrea was probably lurking around Atlanta, waiting for an opportunity to be an epic pain in Pierce’s ass. He scrubbed his hands over his face. Good thing he was already broke; at least Andrea couldn’t steal any more from him.
“Look at it this way: when this chick is caught, and someone will catch her, she’ll be going right back to prison, and not for a suspended sentence this time. That’s the good news. The bad news is that you really can’t do anything else until she does do something. So just be hypervigilant, call me if you get any unexplained hang-ups or even if your gut says that she’s around, and call Johnny if you see her or hear from her.”
“Yeah, yeah, all right, man. Does C know about this?”
Kyle nodded. “Because Andrea impersonated Bailey, she shouldn’t have any problems getting a protective order. That doesn’t do you any good, though.”
“No, but I’m glad that Bailey and C are protected. I’m the only one I have to worry about. Bailey and C have a little girl, and I’d hate to see something bad happen to any of them.” He looked at his watch. “Man, I gotta go. I’ll tell C what I know.”
Kyle stood up with Pierce and shook his hand. “Sounds good. The best way to snag that nutbar is through a united front.”
Pierce nodded. “Strength in numbers. Part of being on a team.”
“Pierce, one thing: is there anyone we need to keep an eye on? Someone you’ve been seeing? I don’t want to underestimate this woman and think that she’s not been keeping tabs on you.”
Pierce paused. Better safe than sorry. “Annie Hedges. We’re friendly, though I wouldn’t say we’re dating. But she’s a sweet woman who doesn’t need that sort of bullshit in her life.”
“Annie Hedges? Does she work for my sister? Skittish woman?”
Pierce nodded and huffed a small laugh. “Yeah, skittish is a good word.”
“Interesting.” Pierce quirked an eyebrow at Kyle, who just shrugged. “Shows that you never know.”
Pierce frowned but decided that he’d rather not know what the private investigator meant. His phone alarm chimed, and Pierce shut it down. “And that’s my cue to get on out of here. I’ll call you if I see or hear anything.”
“I’ll do the same, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
“Damn straight.”
Goddamn straight.
“What?” Pierce leaned heavily on the Jacob’s ladder, chest heaving while Junior Maldonado studied him. “Fucking what, Maldonado?”
Junior barked a laugh. “Was wondering how long it was going to take to get a rise out of you.”
Pierce scowled. “You didn’t get a rise out of me.” He gulped a mouthful of water and then scowled some more. “So?”
“You look good, actually. You’re not nearly as sloppy as I’d feared.”
“Just because you’re used to training a Vulcan doesn’t mean that I’m sloppy. Goddamn.”
Junior cackled. “Oh, man. Calling the big man a Vulcan. That’s great.” His amusement settled into a thoughtful grin as he moved his shoulders, shifting the sling he wore. “But seriously, Pierce. You look good. You’ve got a lot better focus than I’d imagined. You were all over the fucking place at that expo fight.”
“Goddamn, is that all anyone’s ever going to remember? I fought C twice before, remember?”
“Yeah, I do, and C handed you your ass in those two fights. What was different?”
Pierce fidgeted, not meeting the trainer’s eyes. “Dunno. What do you think it was?”
“If it was anyone else, I’d think you were juicing, what with the volatility of your temper and general asshole-ishness, but you’ve never, ever pissed hot, and no one’s that lucky.”
Pierce snorted. “Dude, the only luck I have is bad.”
“So what was it? Look, Pierce, what’s in the past is in the past. C invited you to the fight club despite the bullshit that you put him through. You know he wouldn’t have if he thought you were going to be a liability to the team. So man up and spit it out: what was different?”
“I was sick of not winning.”
“Shit, you can do better than that.”
Pierce was getting irritated with the trainer. “No, I was fucking sick of Colin winning, specifically. He had everything, and I had nothing. And when Andrea told me she was getting back together with him, moving in with him, that was the last straw. I fucking lost my mind.”
“So you were jealous.”
“Fuck yeah, I was jealous. Dude’s independently wealthy, college educated, and from a nice family. He could have had any woman he wanted, but he was going to take back the girl he discarded in the first place, when he had a baby on the way with another?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is this bullshit that you’re spewing at me? C? Getting back together with that loca? Pierce, man—”
Pierce waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. I know that that was completely wrong and the whole thing about C cheating on Andrea was a bunch of shit. But I didn’t know that at the time. So yeah, I was jealous. Man, I barely finished high school, and Jett Raptor took me under his wing when I was a homeless orphan who didn’t know where his next meal was coming from. I was about one bad night away from turning tricks to survive.” Pierce shook his head and then looked earnestly at Junior. “I just wanted a little taste of what he had, you know?”
Junior’s voice quieted, and he chuckled softly. “Man, you and C? You’re not that different, not at all. In fact, that’s why I think the two of you rub each other the wrong way.”
“Damon fucking Pierce, what the actual fucking fuck did you do to Annie?” Ashley stormed over to Pierce and got in his face. “I have half a mind to kick your ass, but I know Paddy looks poorly upon beauty queens beating up his fighters.”
“What the hell? I didn’t do anything to Annie. She’s the one who was acting all twitchy and weird when I tried to talk to her after she sprayed barbecue sauce all over me.”
“Man, I was wondering what that smell was.” Pierce shot Junior a deadly look, but the trainer just cackled. “I just thought you had the meat sweats.”
Ashley shoved Pierce’s shoulder. “Focus, Pierce. If you didn’t want to see her again, why’d you ask her if you could call her?”
“I do want to see her again! What the hell, Ashley? Not that it’s any of your business, but she’s the one who said she didn’t think it was a good idea for me to call her.”
“Well, I should think not, especially after that women scared her half to death.”
Pierce stilled. “What woman?”
“That woman who told Annie about every bit of bad behavior you’ve engaged in, in the past. That woman who was going through Annie’s purse and looking at all her personal information.”
“Holy shit.” Pierce’s mind raced. “Holy shit. Where is she now? Where’s Annie now?”
“Pierce, what’s going on?” Ashley looked between Pierce and Junior. “Junior?”
Junior studied Pierce, a worried look on his face. “Pierce? You wanna answer Ashley’s question?”
“Fuck.” Pierce quickly recapped the news about Andrea—that she was out of prison and missing from Wisconsin.
Ashley shook her head slowly. “Oh, hell no. That tramp is not going to come back to my town and mess with my people. Nuh-uh. No, ma’am. No way, no how. Pierce, you need to get your ass over to Annie’s apartment, pronto. I gave her the rest of the day off because she was so upset.”
Pierce looked at Junior, who scoffed at him. “What are you waiting for, mano?”
“Shitfire. Ashley, do me a favor and call your brothers and tell them that there’s a possible Andrea sighting locally and I’ll confirm after I’ve talked t
o Annie, okay?”
Ashley nodded. “Sure will. Go.”
And Pierce ran out of the gym and headed to Annie’s apartment as fast as he could.
Chapter Fifteen
Annie felt sick as she ran her fingers over the spot in her wallet where her driver’s license should be.
Surely . . . no, she must have left it at one of the properties? That woman wouldn’t have taken it, right? Why would she want Annie’s driver’s license?
Annie sank down into the kitchen chair and dumped the contents of her purse onto the kitchen table, lipsticks and lip balms and pens clattering across the surface. She looked through the objects scattered on the table and didn’t think anything was missing.
With a heavy sigh, she opened her planner in hopes of jogging her memory as to where she left her license even though she knew, deep down, that the mysterious woman had taken it. Annie flipped to the current month and began paging through the weeks.
She inhaled sharply. The pages for the next few weeks had been removed.
Shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot.
She sat at the table in shock until a loud knock on her apartment door made her jump.
“Annie? Annie, are you home?”
Pierce.
She’d contemplated ignoring the man at her door for a few moments, but when he called her name again, distress apparent in his voice, she felt compelled to answer. She peeked through the peephole and saw Pierce leaning against the door, chewing on his lip.
“Annie, honey, please. If you’re home, open up. Just let me know that you’re all right.”
Annie cracked open the door, leaving the security guard in place. “Hello, Pierce.”
Pierce slumped against the doorjamb. “Oh, thank God. Ashley gave me your address. She told me about the woman at the restaurant. Please, may I come in?”
Annie paused a beat and then nodded and unhooked the safety latch to open the door. “Come on in, Pierce.”
Pierce stepped over the threshold, and Annie shut the door behind him. When she turned around after shutting and locking the door, the look on Pierce’s face made her breath catch. He stepped close to her and cradled her face in his big hands.
“Are you okay, Annie?” he whispered, his thumb fluttering along her cheek. “Tell me the truth.”
She shrugged out of his grasp as she nodded. “I’m fine, Pierce. I’m fine. Ashley shouldn’t have sent you over here. It’s not . . . I’m fine.”
Pierce took a step toward Annie, but when she backed away from him, he slumped and shoved his hands into his pockets. “She didn’t send me over here; I came because I’m worried about you.”
Annie rolled her eyes. “Please. I know that I come off all fragile, but I can take care of myself. I just overreacted about the woman finding my purse because . . .” She faltered.
“Is this the woman that found your purse?” Pierce showed Annie a picture on his phone.
Annie nodded, her eyes wide as she looked up at Pierce’s serious face. “Yes,” she whispered. “She said her name was Tammy.”
Pierce blew out a breath. “It might very well be, but I knew her as Andrea Michaels. We . . . were involved at one time.”
“I kind of gathered that.”
“I’m sure she had lots of pleasant things to say about me, and you know, I’ll be the first to admit that they’re most likely true, but, Annie, that woman is a menace. She dated Colin as well, before me, and she’ll stop at nothing to make sure he and I pay.”
“Pay for what?”
Pierce scrubbed his face with his hands. “Short version? She’s a con artist who got caught because she and Bailey got into a fistfight in the hospital lobby after the last fight that Colin and I had.”
Annie gawked at Pierce. “Bailey? Little strawberry-blonde, curly-haired Bailey?”
“Yeah. Little Bailey.” Pierce chuckled, and then he grew sober. “She’s not even supposed to be in the state, but since she is, I’m sure she’s up to no good.”
“My driver’s license and two pages from my calendar are missing.”
“Shit. She knows where you live and where you’re going to be. Fuck.” Pierce pressed his fingers against his eye sockets. “Annie, you need to talk to a detective friend of mine and tell him exactly what she said to you and what she took.”
“I mean, I don’t know that she took it. I could have left it during a showing or . . .” Annie slapped her hands on her face. “God, I’m such an idiot. You told me to put a lock screen on my phone, and I didn’t. I completely flaked and left my purse for anyone to go through. That’s totally what I get.”
“Annie, sweetheart, you have done nothing wrong.” He’d moved back into her space and softly pulled her hands away from her face and didn’t let go. “I don’t want to see you get hurt. Will you talk to the police? Please?”
Annie nodded, and Pierce made a call to Johnny Richards.
After two hours of intense questioning at the police station, Annie felt like she was going to crawl out of her skin. She’d forgotten how horrible feeling powerless was, and now, Pierce and two of the Richards brothers, both policemen, were discussing what she should do like she wasn’t even there. And that made her angry.
“She needs to come to the fight club,” Pierce was saying. “Andrea knows her address. It’s just a matter of time before she shows up, and I don’t want Annie anywhere near that place when it happens.”
“It’s not a terrible idea at all,” Johnny Richards said. “It worked for Nanda. Hell, if she’d stayed at the gym, Sharkey might not have gotten a hold of her.”
“So that’s the plan? She’s going to stay at the fight club?” Darren Richards asked.
“Excuse me. Don’t I have a say in this?” Annie could feel a tightness in her chest, but it felt different than a panic attack. “I don’t want to stay at the fight club. My apartment is secure. There are cameras in the parking lot and the hallway, and the lobby door has a passcode.”
“Which I completely bypassed when someone held the door open for me when I asked.” Pierce leveled a fierce look at her. “Secure, my left nut.”
“I am staying at my apartment. Period. I’ll reschedule my appointments—move them around, change dates and times.”
“Oh no. You’re not going to meet strange people and show them deserted houses and apartments.” Pierce pointed a finger at her. “Not gonna happen.”
Annie stood up and pushed his hand down before thumping Pierce in the chest with her own index finger. “Excuse me? You are not my husband. You’re not even my boyfriend. You cannot tell me what I can and can’t do, especially when it comes to work. Ashley and I will figure something out. Period.”
Annie watched as Pierce clenched and unclenched his jaw. His nostrils flared, and Annie thought she could see a dark flush creeping up his neck. She stood firm, but inside, she was screeching in terror and frustration.
“Fine,” he spat. “Then, I’m staying with you.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll sleep on the couch or on the floor or, hell, I won’t sleep. But you’re not staying alone.”
“Can’t you send a car around or something?” Annie pleaded.
Johnny shook his head. “It’ll take a little time to get something set up, but I should be able to by tomorrow. Annie, I know you don’t want to, but it would be good to have someone stay with you.”
“Fine.” Annie glared at each man in turn.
“Man, it is nevergood when a woman says ‘fine,’ ” Darren muttered. “Never.”
“At least one of you has some sense.” Annie stood up. “If you are finished bossing me around, I’d like to go home. I’ve about had it with people today.”
Johnny shook her hand. “I’ll call you as soon as I can schedule a check-in, okay?”
“Yes, that’s good. Thank you.” She turned to Pierce. “Well? Do you need to get a bag or something?”
“I still have a change of clothes in my car. I’m good to follow you back to your apartment.” P
ierce looked blandly at her. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“Hmph. I’m ready.” Annie stomped out the door.
Chapter Sixteen
“Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?” Annie arched an eyebrow at Pierce’s outstretched hand.
“I’m waiting for you to hand me your keys so I can unlock the door and check out your apartment before you go inside.”
“Pierce . . .”
“Annie . . .”
She huffed and dropped the keys into his hand. Pierce gave her a little, triumphant smile, which made her scowl more. Pierce tried to ignore how cute she was when she was all riled up by staying focused on making sure that the apartment was secure. He opened the door and went in first, motioning for Annie to stay by the front door until he checked everything out. He quickly searched the apartment and returned to Annie, who had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot with irritation.
Just as she opened her mouth, most likely to fuss, the intercom buzzed, and Annie’s eyes popped wide in fright.
“It’s food, Annie. I ordered us some food.”
“When?”
“Before we left the police station. While you were still fussing with whatever in your car.”
“I wasn’t fussing. I was trying to get my seat belt adjusted.” She scowled at him. “And how did you know what to order?”
“From when we were discussing where we were going to go to lunch.”
She made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat even as she answered the intercom and confirmed that, yes, it was dinner.
Pierce answered the door when the doorbell sounded, paid for the food, and brought it to the kitchen table. He busied himself with emptying the plastic delivery bags while Annie sauntered over and peeked in the paper takeout containers.
“This smells really good,” she grudgingly admitted. “I haven’t gone grocery shopping this week, so all I have is some milk that’s probably about to go bad and maybe one serving of cereal. So, thank you.”
Pierce winked at her as he popped the top off of a bowl of soup, and Annie rolled her eyes but gave him a shy smile as she pulled plates and bowls out of a cupboard and utensils out of a drawer. She placed them on the table, and Pierce arranged everything while she poured them some water from a jug in the refrigerator.
