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Jackson leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his massive chest. “So now that we’ve established the fact she’ll be perfectly safe here, what’s next? By the way, for the sake of being thorough, I did a sweep of your rental car. It’s clean.”

“Thanks. That reminds me; I need to call Austin and ask him to get my truck.”

“Me and Hatch can take care of it,” Pinto offered, but Nate waved him off.

“Y’all have done enough already. Besides, I’d rather you guys stay here and watch over Dorcas.”

“Don’t I get a say in any of this?” Dorcas asked, her patience reaching an end. Yes, she was fully aware that they were big, tough guys who did big, tough things, and had all kinds of weapons at their disposal. But this was her life, and she wasn’t about to sit back while other people made her decisions for her.

Nate gave her a patronizing look, and she began to question all of those warm, fuzzy feelings she had about him earlier. “No offense, but this is what we do for a living.”

“Yeah, and this is my life. That earns me a spot at the table.”

“Fair enough.” The muscle along Nate’s jaw flexed. “What do you think we should do?”

Chapter 12

NATE STARED AT DORCAS, waiting for her response, amused by the shock on her face.

Clearly, she hadn’t expected him to give in so easily. But really, what other choice did he have? She was right; it was her life—and her sister’s—that was on the line, and she deserved a say in the matter.

That said, if he had his way, he’d lock her up someplace safer than Fort Knox until he figured out what the hell was going on. She triggered all of his protective instincts. Triggered a few possessive ones too. Just looking at her made his body rev. He’d never felt this strongly about a woman, and it left him thoroughly rattled.

Dorcas tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. “Well, I think the first order of business should be finding out what’s on the flash drive. Is there a computer around here we could use?”

“I’ve got a laptop,” Jackson offered.

“I don’t know if you want to do that,” Nate cautioned. “For all we know, it could have a virus.”

“That’s okay. It’s old; I don’t mind if it gets fried. Besides, even if it does, I can ask Larissa to fix it.”

While Dorcas retrieved the flash drive from her purse, Jackson left the kitchen and returned less than a minute later with a laptop covered with military and gaming stickers. He cleared a space on the table, set it down, and pressed the power button.

Jackson had just entered the password to unlock the laptop when Dorcas strode back into the kitchen with the flash drive in her hand. He made a sweeping gesture. “All yours, dear lady.”

“Thank you.” A nervous tremor shook her fingers as she inserted the drive into the port. Whatever was in there had caused her sister to flee, and them to get shot at. The computer made a faint whirring sound, and a few seconds later a screen popped up, requesting a password.