Hard to Be Good (Hard Ink #3.5) (4 page)

Running his dark hand over his close-cropped hair, Easy nodded. “Yeah. Because, otherwise, what would’ve motivated Seneka to attack?”

“Exactly,” Marz said. “So now we’ve identified Manny as a Seneka operative and at least one of the other attackers, too.”

“Finally we’re moving past purely circumstantial evidence to the hard stuff we can use to nail them,” Shane said, anger making his southern accent a little more prominent than usual.

Marz nodded and rubbed his hands together. “Now what we need to put all the details together is the information on the colonel’s chip.” Nods all around. “So Charlie and I will get to work on networking the machines and I’ll set up an organizational system to keep track of which files have been read.”

“Do it,” Nick said. “For everyone else, if you don’t have an immediate task this morning, rest up. Between reading those files and the watch rotation, there might not be much of that in the coming days.”

The group broke up into side conversations, and Jeremy continued to hold the projector as a few people from the back came in for a closer look. When they were done, he finally returned the projector to the desk, dropped his hands to his sides, and shook them out. His shoulders had started to ache from holding the position for so long. Looking down, his gaze snagged on Charlie, who was giving Jeremy’s body a good, long look.

Jeremy felt it like a physical caress as Charlie’s blue eyes seemed to latch on to Jeremy’s hips, groin, thighs.

Holy shit. So much desire radiated off the other man that it took everything Jeremy had not to climb down from the chair, pull Charlie into his arms, and kiss him until neither of them could breathe.

Charlie’s gaze snapped upward and collided with Jeremy’s. The blond man’s face turned beet red and he made himself suddenly busy with some papers on the desk. Blood rushed southward through Jeremy’s body, and he jumped down before his erection became obvious to everyone in the room.

There was only
one
person he would like to have made his erection obvious to. If he didn’t find a way to get Charlie alone soon, he was going to lose it. He really was.

Jeremy scrubbed his hands over his face. When he dropped them, he found Jessica standing right next to him, her gaze glued to the computer monitor and her mouth hanging open.

He glanced from her to the screen, still filled with the image of the enlarged tattoo next to the Seneka logo, then frowned. “What’s the matter?”

“Um, I don’t . . .” She shook her head. “This can’t be happening.”

Icy dread snaked down Jeremy’s spine. “What, Jess?”

Ike appeared on the far side of the desk. “What’s going on?” he asked.

It was right then that Jeremy saw something he’d never seen before—Jess’s cheeks filling with a bright pink heat. What the hell would make her blush, of all things?

“I, uh . . . I hooked up with a man who had a tattoo like that,” she finally said.

“What?” Ike nearly roared. “When?”

Jeremy’s stomach made a slow slide to the floor.
Please say it was a long time ago. Please say it was—

“Friday night,” she said, the words nearly a whisper.

Chapter 4

C
HARLIE
’
S STOM
A
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N
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as Jeremy groaned. In the time he and Jer had spent together, Charlie had heard a million stories about Jess—about how she and Jeremy had met, pranks she’d played or that he and Nick had played on her, and countless funny hookup stories. He talked about her enough that Charlie had at first assumed that Jeremy had something going with her, but when he’d asked, Jeremy had laughed and said he thought of her like a sister. Nothing more.

But that was a little hard to keep in mind when he hugged and held her like he had a few minutes before, and when he pulled her into his arms, like he was doing just now.

“Jesus, Jess,” Jeremy rasped. “There’s no fucking way this is all a coincidence.”

“I didn’t know,” she said, her voice tight.

“Of course not. Don’t you worry. Hey Nick?” Jeremy said, beckoning him with a wave.

Frowning, Nick cut through the group to them. “What’s wrong?” Nick asked.

“This is so freaking embarrassing,” Jess said, burying her face in Jeremy’s neck. And hell if Charlie didn’t feel like a little bit of an ass for the jealousy slithering into his gut. But, damn, what he wouldn’t give to stand in the tight embrace of Jeremy’s arms . . .

Nick, Ike, and Jeremy formed a circle around Jess, such that Charlie couldn’t hear everything that was being said. But he heard enough to get the gist that a guy with a Seneka company tattoo had hit on her at a local bar on Friday night, they’d had a few drinks and talked, and then she’d brought him home. Which was how she’d seen his tattoo.

“So, you could identify this guy if you saw him again?” Nick asked.

“Of course,” Jess said.

“Which was probably why they came looking for her last night,” Ike said. “In the wake of the attack on Hard Ink, they were tying up loose ends.”

A rock slid into Charlie’s gut, and he felt even worse about his jealousy from moments before. Jess was in real trouble.

“Jesus.” Nick tugged a hand through his hair. “Sure as fuck what it sounds like.”

“I’m getting her out of here,” Ike said after another moment.

“But she’ll be safe here,” Jeremy said. “With all of us.”

Ike shook his head. “You’ve got enough noncombatants here as it is. And they’re actively looking for Jess. I’m not taking any chances.”

Charlie knew exactly what it felt like to be targeted, pursued, chased. After he’d hacked into the Singapore bank where his father had an account worth twelve million dollars and tried to learn who or what the depositor WCE was, he’d realized someone was searching for him in return. He’d packed up that night and went on the run. He’d spent the better part of a week moving from one hole-in-the-wall motel to the next until they finally caught up with him, stuffed him into the back of a van, and dumped him into hell.

“Shit,” Nick said. “Maybe it’s time we face this question once and for all.”

“What question?” Jeremy asked.

Nick dug his hands through his hair and blew out a breath. “Whether or not to send all the civilians away until this is over.”

“What?” Becca said, coming up behind Nick. “If I fall into the ‘civilians’ column, I don’t want to go anywhere.”

Her words drew attention, because the room quieted all of a sudden.

“What’s going on?” Shane asked, his arm around Sara’s shoulders. With the help of the whole team, Shane had rescued Sara and her sister Jenna from the clutches of the Church Gang a little over a week earlier, and now Shane and Sara were inseparable.

“We’ve got a situation and a decision to make,” Nick said as everyone gathered around Marz’s desk again. “Looks like Seneka has been targeting Jess for a few days now and last night’s break-in at her place was yet another kidnapping attempt. This situation is getting more and more dire. Ike wants to take Jess out of here ‘til the dust settles. Which makes me wonder if we shouldn’t send all the civilians away. Just ‘til this is over.”

Charlie’s stomach tossed. Would they consider him a civilian? Or would he stay since Marz needed his help with the cyber side of their investigation? One thing was for sure, Charlie didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to leave the group that had saved him. And he sure as heck didn’t want to leave Jeremy, the truest friend he’d had in a long time.

Silence stretched out for a long moment, and then everyone started talking at once.

“I’m not leaving as long as there’s a chance any of you will need medical treatment,” Becca said. She was an ER nurse and had been working with Shane, who had medic training from the Army, whenever any of them got hurt. Which was often. Hell, Shane and Easy both still wore bandages from gunshot wounds they’d received in a shootout with Emilie’s brother at her house two days before.

“We may be civilians, Nick,” Kat said, “but we can still help. You’re going to need bodies to man the snipers’ roosts, for one.”

Sara pushed her long red waves behind her ears. “I don’t want to leave. I thought the purpose of Detective Vance’s roadblock was so that we could all stay here. Together.”

Among both the men and women, a chorus of agreement rose up in support of staying.

“Okay, okay,” Nick said. “I don’t want to split us up either, but it was worth the discussion.” He pulled Becca against him and kissed her forehead. Relief flooded through Charlie at Nick’s words.

“Well, I don’t mind going,” Jess said, looking from Nick to Jeremy. “I’m sorry. But last night really freaked me out. I was so sure they were going to find me, and then . . .” She shook her head. “I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened if they had.”

“But where will you go?” Jeremy asked, taking her hand.

“To my place outside of town,” Ike said. “No one besides the Ravens knows about it, so it’s a good safe house.”

Jess nodded. “You’re sure you don’t mind, Ike?”

His gaze narrowed and his jaw ticked. “Let’s go. Now.”

Jess turned to Jeremy. “Be careful,” she whispered as she threw her arms around his neck. She did the same with Nick.

Ike crossed to Dare, but Charlie couldn’t hear their exchange. And then Ike and Jess said their final good-byes and took off.

“Jesus,” Jeremy said, rubbing his forehead.

Charlie wished he was brave enough to go to the guy and offer him a hug, because he looked like he was starving for it. “I’m sorry,” Charlie said, staring up at Jeremy’s handsome face.

Jeremy gave him a nod. “Thanks. It just doesn’t end, does it?”

Charlie rose to stand in front of Jeremy, and he had to ball his fists against the urge to rest them on Jeremy’s chest or wind them around his neck. “It will. Don’t give up.”

Jeremy’s pale green eyes met Charlie’s for a long moment, and then he took a deep breath and nodded. “I won’t. Thanks.” Jeremy gave him a look that seemed like he wanted to say something more, but instead he just clapped him on the shoulder.

The heat of Jer’s touch, casual as it was, lit a slow burn all through Charlie’s body. After getting so close to kissing Jeremy, he couldn’t seem to rein in his desire where the other man was concerned.

“All right, go chill out for a while,” Nick said, pulling Charlie from his thoughts. “Marz and Charlie will let you know when they’re ready for people to dive into the documents. And Beckett, Jeremy, and Dare will get the snipers’ roosts set up.” Nick raked a hand through his hair. His other arm remained around Becca.

For the first time, Charlie envied what they had—how easy it was, how natural, how open. As much of a hard-ass as Nick was, he never hesitated to show her affection in front of the other guys.

Charlie wanted that. He wanted that acceptance, that desire, that togetherness. Just once in his life.

The room finally cleared out except for Marz, Emilie, Nick, and Kat, who lingered on the other side of the desk.

“Hey, Charlie?” Kat said. “Do you have a minute?”

He had to resist the urge to look around and make sure she was really talking to him. He couldn’t imagine what Kat wanted. “Uh, sure.” Charlie rounded the desk, but she beckoned him to follow her toward the other side of the room where they were more alone.

“I just wanted to ask you if Jeremy is okay,” she said, concern filling her eyes. They were a brighter green than her brothers’, and heat crawled up Charlie’s neck at the comparison.

“I think he is,” Charlie managed.

“Is he blaming himself for the Ravens’ deaths when the roof collapsed?” Charlie wasn’t sure what his expression gave away, but then Kat frowned and said, “Shit. He is, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. I tried to talk to him down, though. And I’ll keep at it,” Charlie said.

Kat squeezed his arm. “Please do. Thank you. You’re good for him.”

“What? Why would you . . .” He shook his head as the walls seemed to close in on them.

“Aw, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just thought . . .” She shrugged.

“What?” he asked, heat filling his face.

She looked at him a long moment, and then stepped closer. “If you two are interested in each other, I’d think that was pretty awesome. That’s all.”

Twin reactions coursed through Charlie. Excited surprise at her approval and acceptance, and bone-deep embarrassment that she’d noticed his interest. Had everyone? “Uh. Okay.”

“You’re too cute,” she said. “No wonder he likes you.”

Why didn’t the floor open up and swallow him already? Except, then he couldn’t hear the answer to the question he was dying to ask. “Why would you say that?”

She smiled. “The way he gravitates to you. The way he looks at you, especially when you’re not looking. And the fact that he’s talked to you about what happened yesterday when he won’t with me or Nick. And we’ve both tried.”

“Oh.” Charlie’s brain struggled to process everything she’d said.

“I’ll talk to you later,” she said, when he didn’t say anything further.

For a long moment, Charlie stood there, truly dumbfounded. Kat thought Jeremy liked him? And that Charlie was good for Jeremy? His stomach went for a loop-the-loop.

“Hey, Charlie?” Marz called from across the gym.

The words snapped him from his stupor, and Charlie crossed the space and hoped the others wouldn’t realize how shell shocked he felt. “I’m here,” he said.

“Good deal,” Marz said. “Then help me kick some computer ass?”

Charlie smiled. Marz always had a way with words, and his easygoing, lighthearted nature put Charlie at ease. As did the fact that they both worked in the same field. It gave him a starting point of common interest with Marz that Charlie didn’t find with many people.

And that was when Charlie realized that one of the worst situations of his life—being kidnapped and tortured—had led to one of the best. Before being grabbed by the Church Gang, most of Charlie’s life had consisted of doing his computer security consulting services from his basement apartment. He’d been alone almost all of the time. Now, he had more friends and, frankly, just basic human interaction, than he’d ever had. And he didn’t want to lose that.

“Yeah,” Charlie said. “Kicking computer ass, it is.”

“
T
H
I
S
W
AS THE
second location I had in mind,” Jeremy said to Beckett as they entered the fourth floor of the abandoned warehouse diagonally across the intersection from Hard Ink. They’d already chosen the first location—the fifth floor of another abandoned building that stood a full block up the street and allowed panoramic views of Eastern Avenue, the main artery into Jeremy’s neighborhood.

Beckett and Dare crossed to the windows, which had long since lost their glass panes. Beckett nodded. “Perfect vantage point of Hard Ink and of the approach from two directions.”

Dare nodded. “You can even see the roadblocks,” he said, pointing to something off in the distance.

Jeremy came up beside him and saw a truck unloading jersey barriers and fencing about three blocks down. Guess Detective Vance had come through. Glancing at Dare, Jeremy realized his gaze had latched on to something much closer. The avalanche of rubble still piled in front of the collapsed section of the Hard Ink building.

A rock formed in Jeremy’s gut. From this vantage point, the whole building was visible from the roof down. His stomach tossed like he’d just crested the highest, sharpest hill on a roller coaster. Because he’d been standing on a part of the roof that no longer existed. And he’d nearly fallen three stories to his death.

Just as two other men had.

The words were out of Jeremy’s mouth before he’d even thought to say them. “I’m so sorry your guys died, Dare. It’s all my fault.”

Nearly black eyes cut Jeremy’s way. “How do you mean?”

From beyond Dare, Beckett’s blue eyes stared at Jeremy, making it clear that Beckett waited for the answer, too.

“I froze. When it happened. If I’d reacted faster—hell, if I’d reacted
at all
, Nick could’ve gotten to them instead.” The oddest lightness of being fell over Jeremy at the admission of his guilt to the man most likely to want to do something about it, even as his muscles braced for the consequences.

Dare’s gaze narrowed, but then he shook his head. “Life deals us shit hands sometimes. Harvey and Creed got dealt theirs. That’s not on you.” He turned away from the window as if that settled it.

Jeremy released a long breath. Somehow, he felt simultaneously relieved and confused. Relieved that Dare didn’t mete out some biker justice on his ass, but confused as hell about why his confession and Dare’s apparent forgiveness didn’t make him feel all that much better.

Beckett looked at him for a long moment, that piercing blue stare making Jeremy want to squirm. Finally, Beckett turned away. “Yeah. I think you nailed this one. It doesn’t even need the work the other location did.” They’d had to haul debris away from the two windows they wanted to use in the other building, and shore up the ceiling over the window that gave them the best overlook of Hard Ink’s street.