Tin Queen

by Devney Perry

  Anything incriminating had gone in that box, buried and forgotten. There was no way those would have been found. But someone had definitely opened this laptop. A computer that never left my home.

  I quickly spun and picked up my other machine, flipping it over to open its casing too. The same goddamn device was there too.

  Both machines. Physically cracked. I bet somewhere in my house I’d find a radio receiver that went along with the webcam tap.

  There was only one person who had been in my house alone. Only one person would have had access to these machines.

  Nova.

  “No.” My stomach pitched. My head was spinning and there was a very real chance my meal from earlier was going to come up.

  Nova.

  I’d trusted her. I’d . . . loved her?

  No. It couldn’t be her. She wouldn’t do that to me. Someone else had to have come in.

  Rationalizations aside, in my heart, I knew it was all bullshit. My security system was the best there was. If someone had broken into my house, I would have known, right?

  Right.

  “Fuck.” I pushed my chair away from the desk, dropping my elbows to my thighs as I tried to breathe. The pain in my chest was like a gunshot wound seeping blood and death.

  Why? Why would she do this?

  The Warriors.

  I gulped, a fresh wash of pain coming again. It squeezed so tight I could barely breathe.

  “Fuck!” My voice echoed through the house.

  She’d betrayed me. She’d fucking betrayed me.

  The pain turned to anger in an instant. The anger morphed into blinding fury. I swiped up my phone and marched from the office, my strides quickening until I was jogging toward the garage.

  I pulled on a pair of boots, then grabbed my wallet and keys. Then I was out of the house, passing my bike for the truck. Tearing away from my place, I seethed. The moment my tires hit the highway, I dialed Leo.

  “Hey,” he answered.

  “Scratch dinner. I’m headed to Missoula.”

  “Uh . . .”

  “Call Dash. Call Isaiah. Call Luke. Call Shaw.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  “I’ve been seeing a woman.”

  “You have? Since when?”

  “This summer. It was just a casual thing.” Because that was how Nova had wanted it. She hadn’t wanted names or commitment. And the stupid son of a bitch that I was, I’d let sex distract me. I’d been blind to her motives and now I felt like a fucking fool. “I don’t know how yet. I don’t know what is happening. But both of my laptops were tampered with. She’s the only one who’s been in my house. Had to have happened in the last couple of days.”

  Probably on Thursday, when she’d asked to work from my house because hers had been too loud.

  How many lies had she told me? How many had I believed?

  “The Warriors?” Leo asked.

  “Who else? She’s got to be connected to them somehow.” And I’d been so caught up in falling for her that I’d pushed all common sense away. I hadn’t insisted on getting her last name. I hadn’t pulled a background check. I hadn’t run her license plates.

  What the fuck had I been thinking?

  “What are you going to do?” Leo asked.

  I hit the gas pedal, my hands tight on the steering wheel. “Start by driving to Missoula and getting some goddamn answers.” Maybe find out who the actual fuck she was.

  “You know where she’s at?”

  “Yeah.” I knew exactly where she was at.

  Thursday night, when she’d told me she was leaving, I’d gotten worried. Because if someone from the Warriors was watching us, they would have seen Nova at my place. I hadn’t wanted to send her home to Missoula without a way to find her in an emergency.

  Bryce and Genevieve had been kidnapped once and it had only been luck we’d tracked them to the mountains before it was too late.

  Ever since, Dash had had a location tracker on Bryce’s phone. Isaiah had one for Genevieve. Shaw for Presley. Luke for Scarlett. And Leo for Cass.

  I’d taken Nova’s phone while she’d slept and added it too. Simple enough. I’d seen her enter her passcode enough times to capture the numbers. Unless she’d discovered it already and deleted it, I’d be able to track her down. Just in case.

  Turns out my just in case would come in handy today.

  “What can I do?” Leo asked.

  “Call everyone. Tell them to keep alert.”

  “Want me to share specifics?”

  “No.” Right now I was guessing. What we needed were answers. For those, I needed time.

  “Keep me posted.”

  “Will do.” I ended the call and picked up the phone, driving with one hand while I navigated to the location tracker.

  Nova was in Missoula. The location showed her in a residential neighborhood, most likely her home.

  I set my phone aside and kept on driving, the hot rage from earlier ebbing, becoming a simmering burn beneath my skin.

  How could she have done this to me? How was she connected to the Warriors? An hour into my trip, those questions pounded my mind like nails being hammered into my skull.

  How could I have let this happen? I knew better than to trust anyone. I fucking knew better. But damn if she hadn’t been a master manipulator. Damn if she hadn’t used me. Damn if I hadn’t let my cock lead the way.

  She would give me answers. Either willingly, or I’d find them myself.

  I swiped my phone and hit her name, the ring filling the truck’s cab.

  “Hey.” Her voice was bright as she answered after the second ring. “I was hoping to hear from you today.”

  I swallowed a huff. Yeah, I bet she was. Probably to gauge whether I’d found her out or not. But I wasn’t showing my hand yet and forced a steady voice. “My bed was too empty last night.”

  “It better have been empty, Ace.”

  God, that voice. There was affection there. Jealousy in that warning. She sounded like she would be heartbroken if I’d brought another woman home from the bar.

  Was I wrong? Maybe she hadn’t touched my laptops. Maybe I’d immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion because trust didn’t come easy for me. Maybe she’d worked her way so easily into my life that I was terrified and finding every reason to shove her away.

  Because she scared me.

  This woman scared me to death. She had the power to break me, something I hadn’t given to anyone. Ever.

  “What are you doing today?” she asked.

  “Errands.”

  “Yeah, me too. I need to get some groceries. The fridge is empty here. And I’m doing laundry. But I’m planning on staying in my sweats all day.”

  “Exciting Saturday.”

  “Yeah,” she muttered. “I’ve been thinking about next weekend. About your birthday party.”

  “And?” I held my breath, waiting for whatever excuse was coming because I’d bet my left nut she’d never set foot in Clifton Forge again.

  “And if the invitation still stands, I’d love to come and celebrate. Meet your friends.”

  What. The. Fuck?

  She wanted to come to my birthday party. Why? Because she wanted intel on my friends. Or because she was innocent.

  Christ, what was happening?

  “Yeah,” I managed to choke out as my mind raced. “That’d be great.”

  “Good. I have the perfect gift in mind.”

  I hummed. It was the only sound I could muster. My mind was reeling, my focus barely on the road as the truck flew across the pavement. “I’m just pulling up to the store,” I lied. “Better let you go.”

  “Okay. Bye.”

  The line went dead and I pinched the bridge of my nose. What was going on? A guilty woman would have bolted and never looked back. A guilty woman wouldn’t be coming to my birthday party.

  Unless . . .

  This was like being on a goddamn roller coaster, forced to go up and down and around and sideways. Nothin
g made sense. Nothing clicked.

  Maybe the smart thing to do would be to turn around. Go home, examine my laptops again, and pull information on Nova. Information I should have pulled ages ago. But did I turn around? No. I kept on driving.

  Because I wanted to see her face. I wanted to study her expression, her eyes, her mouth and see her for myself. Either I’d been blind to the lies. Or she was telling me the truth.

  Regardless, I wasn’t leaving Missoula without her last name.

  The long drive did nothing but set me on edge. By the time I pulled into Missoula, I had so much nervous energy racing through my veins that I forced myself to stop at a gas station. I parked, went inside to take a piss, then took a walk around the lot as the truck was filling with gas.

  I was calmer, barely, when I got behind the wheel again, then checked the location service on Nova’s phone. She was still in the same place. I punched it into the GPS and followed the directions through town toward a neighborhood filled with new condos and overpriced homes. There was a place mid construction on Nova’s street. I eased my truck in behind a white box trailer, using it as a shield.

  Her condo was three down.

  I waited. And I watched. The lights were on at her place. About thirty minutes into my surveillance her neighbor’s garage opened and a minivan backed out. A woman with a messy ponytail eased past me, reaching behind her to a toddler in the backseat.

  It was quiet for another hour. My stomach began to rumble, I hadn’t eaten in hours, but I stayed in my seat. Stuck.

  Knocking on her door was out. I didn’t want her to know how I’d found her. So I sat, regretting the impulse to drive here when I should have stayed home and done some damn research.

  Leo texted twice, checking in. I texted a thumbs up but nothing more.

  Then the upstairs light at Nova’s place turned off. A minute later, her garage door opened and there she was, backing the Nova onto the street.

  She headed in the opposite direction, away from my truck. She was dressed in a black leather jacket. Her hair was curled and her lips were painted red.

  “So much for those sweats, huh, baby?”

  I waited until her taillights disappeared around the corner before starting the truck and following. There was no need to get close, not with the location tracker. I hung back, letting the Saturday evening traffic swallow me up as we maneuvered downtown.

  I hadn’t spent a lot of time in Missoula. It was too far from Clifton Forge and I didn’t particularly like big towns anyway. I took note of the restaurants and shops and shopping mall, just to get my bearings.

  Nova parked in front of an upscale restaurant. I was at a stoplight two blocks away when she opened the door and stepped out.

  Definitely not in sweats. What I hadn’t been able to see earlier was that her jacket was cropped and beneath it was a tight black dress that hugged her hips and thighs. On her feet was a pair of sexy shoes I’d had on my bedroom floor more than once.

  Anger surged because if she’d lied about her plans tonight, then what else had she lied about? Everything?

  A young valet came over and she handed him her keys. Then she strutted to the restaurant as the kid climbed into the Nova and drove it away.

  The light ahead turned green, but I hesitated long enough to earn a honk from the car behind me. I eased onto a side street, parking in the biggest spot I could find. Then I waited again.

  I wanted to see who she was with tonight. In case they hadn’t arrived yet, I gave them thirty minutes before setting off down the sidewalk.

  The streetlamps were on though the sky was bright with the oranges and pinks of the sunset. The evening air would have been cold if not for the rage keeping me warm.

  My bootsteps pounded on the sidewalk as I made my way to the restaurant, stopping outside its floor-to-ceiling windows. They were crystal clear, allowing a view to the entire restaurant.

  I spotted her instantly.

  She was sitting beside a man too old and too thick in the middle. The windows gave me the perfect view of her laughing at something he said.

  They sat together, the table’s corner the only thing separating them. The man’s back was to me but he put his hand over hers. She smiled at him and leaned in to brush a kiss to his cheek.

  I saw red. The color of her lipstick. The color of the soles of her goddamn shoes.

  She was on a fucking date.

  My hands fisted at my sides. I let out a growl. She couldn’t have heard it but the sound might as well have been whispered in her ear. One minute she was smiling at her date, the next she was looking at me standing outside the restaurant.

  That was when the color drained from her lying face.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Nova

  Emmett.

  My stomach dropped as he stared at me through the restaurant’s front window.

  “June?” Ira twisted to follow my gaze.

  Emmett was gone before Ira had turned. Gone so fast that I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined him there.

  “Would you excuse me for a moment?” Ira didn’t get the chance to answer because I was out of my chair and hustling away from our table.

  I did my best not to run until I cleared the dining room, but the moment I hit the lobby, I was jogging toward the door. I shoved outside, the chill biting into my bare arms as I took in the sidewalk.

  I looked left. Nothing. Right. Nothing. Emmett would have stood head and shoulders above the others milling about, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

  Had I imagined it? He’d been so angry. So cold through the glass. Was it my imagination playing a trick on me?

  I spun around once more, checking in all directions. The street was busy tonight, many people downtown on a Saturday to enjoy the bars and restaurants.

  A man bumped into me, his arms going out to make sure I didn’t stumble. “Sorry.”

  I held up a hand and waved him off. “It’s okay.”

  After one last check down the street, I shook my head and returned inside. Maybe I had imagined it. The sinking feeling in my stomach said otherwise.

  If Emmett was here, he’d come to Missoula and found me on a date.

  How had he found me? How had he known? I gulped and forced myself to return to my table.

  Ira stood as soon as I reached his side. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, sorry. I thought I saw an old friend from college who I haven’t seen in ages,” I lied, resuming my seat. Then I reached into my purse and slid out my phone. The screen was blank.

  “Did you?”

  “Huh?” I looked to Ira. “Oh, my friend. No, it wasn’t her. Whoops.”

  He gave me a pleasant smile, then lifted his glass of wine, waiting for me to do the same. Once I had mine lifted, he clinked the rims together. “Cheers. It’s been too long.”

  I delivered yet another fake smile and took a long sip. God, what the hell had I been thinking? I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t pretend to date Ira and let him take me to his home. I couldn’t slip anything into his drink and then kiss him until he passed out. I’d puke.

  The only man’s lips I wanted on mine were Emmett’s.

  I had to get out of here. Now.

  The first thirty minutes of this dinner had been a disaster. Ira’s voice was so nasal I’d almost begged our waiter for earplugs. When Ira had touched my hand, my skin had crawled.

  It wasn’t that he was a creep or that he’d done anything inappropriate. No, this sick feeling was all my doing because I was using him.

  Apparently, that was who I’d become. A woman who used her face and body to trick men.

  I didn’t want to be this person.

  When had I become this devious, jaded woman? Had I always been like this?

  No. This wasn’t me. I didn’t want this to be me.

  The only reason I’d called Ira was because I wanted so badly to unravel my mistakes. This wasn’t the way. If seeing Emmett at the window had been my imagination, the contempt and fury and disg
ust in his expression were all too accurate.

  If it really had been him, well . . . I’d earned that hostility.

  My eyes flooded.

  I wasn’t this woman.

  I didn’t want to be this woman.

  “June.”

  A tear slipped down my cheek and I didn’t even bother wiping it away because numbers two and three followed close behind.

  I wasn’t June. I wasn’t Nova.

  Who was I?

  “I’m sorry, Ira.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  I met his concerned gaze and sniffled, blinking the tears away. “No, it’s not. Thank you for meeting me here tonight, but I need to go.”

  “Of course. Would you like me to drive you home? Or you can come to my place if you don’t want to be alone.”

  Maybe it was an innocent offer, but this man was my father’s attorney. I wasn’t sure he understood the concept of innocence.

  “No, thank you.” I stood and grabbed my jacket, then bent for my purse and took out my wallet. “I’d like to pay for our wine. I insist.”

  Thank God we hadn’t ordered yet. I would have felt compelled to stay.

  “I couldn’t possibly allow it.” Ira stood too, taking my hand and pressing it between his own. Then he brought my knuckles to his lips and I forced myself not to rip my hand away. “We’ll do this again.”

  No, we wouldn’t. “Thank you for understanding.”

  He nodded and before he could say another word, I freed myself from his grasp and walked out of the room.

  While the valet went to retrieve my car, I slipped on my coat and wrapped my arms around my waist, shifting from foot to foot. I looked up and down the sidewalk again, hoping to see Emmett, but there were only strange faces and a fading blue sky.

  When the rumble of the Nova’s engine reached me, I stepped off the sidewalk before the kid had a chance to put it in park. Then I was behind the wheel, racing home. Every minute was agony. Every three seconds I checked the rearview hoping to see a familiar Harley and its rider.