Page 32

Chapter 31

Two days later

Mari was about to go out of her mind. They’d been in this house for two days. Which, fine, wasn’t long in the big scheme of the entire world. But they couldn’t even go outside while they waited.

Waited, waited, waited. Bah.

She took the medicine ball that Adalyn had dropped off and threw it at the kitchen door, took perverse pleasure when it made a big bang then popped back to her.

Normally she ran for exercise, but that was out for now—though Adalyn had offered to get her a treadmill. But she was holding off until they knew how long they’d be stuck here.

Until then she was doing medicine ball squats and throws.

Squat down, pop up, throw the ball at the door. Boom. She did it again.

“What the—”

She caught the ball and turned to find a shirtless Colin with a pistol in his hand staring at her. At least the weapon was at his side.

“What are you doing? ”

“Seems pretty obvious to me.” Her tone was a little rude, but she was feeling rude. And cranky, and all the things in between. She hated everything at the moment, including herself. Her stupid, sabotaging asshole self.

“I thought someone was breaking in,” he muttered.

Ignoring him, she threw the ball again, caught it.

“Mari.”

She turned to find he’d set his weapon down so she threw the ball at him. He caught it with a surprised expression.

“Come on. Do it with me. You need to let off some steam too.”

“I’m not doing whatever it is you’re doing,” he said as he tossed the ball at her.

Feeling smug, she squatted, popped up and threw it. “It’s cool, I know it’s a lot of work for someone your age.”

“I’m only a few years older than you,” he grumbled as he did the squat. “And for the record, I feel ridiculous,” he added as he threw the ball back at her.

“Who cares? No one’s here to see us.” The others were all gone for now, but she knew one or two of them would be back in time for dinner. Or if they had news. But at this point, she figured they were never getting out of here. And it wasn’t like she and Colin were having sex. “Have you talked to your partners?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He grunted slightly at her harder throw. “Everything’s good. Might have some new clients.”

“Thank your partners again for me. I’ve heard from two clients that they were total pros.”

He nodded, and thankfully they didn’t talk after that, but simply let out their aggression and energy on the ball—because again, they weren’t going to be having sex.

Not when he was barely talking to her. And she hated how much she cared. See? This was why you had to keep your heart out of things. Because after sex everything got weird and stupid.

They both paused at the sound of the door opening. Sweaty and exhausted and so grateful for the interruption—though she’d never admit it because she hadn’t wanted to be the one who quit first—she turned to find Berlin and Chance stepping inside.

Berlin blinked at the two of them. “I’m scared to ask what you’ve been doing.”

“Exercise.”

“Fun.” Berlin’s tone was dry.

“You’re here so please tell me you have good news.” She wasn’t sure how long they’d been squatting and throwing that damn ball at each other but her thighs were shaking so bad she was ready to fall over. She refused to show how tired she was though. Instead of collapsing on her face, she strode to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water and tossed one to Colin.

“Oh yeah. I’ve had a busy two days.” Berlin sat at the island top and set her laptop on it as Chance disappeared into the bedrooms.

Mari had learned by now that anytime anyone stopped by, they checked out the house to make sure everything was secure. It might be overkill but she was okay with it. Having armed gunman chase after her and Colin had really changed her perspective on things.

“From what I’ve found and what the DEA has confirmed—”

“They talked to you?”

Berlin snorted. “Ah, not exactly. Let’s just say some of the information I’ve got came from Camila, a friend of one of my bosses and my awesome skills.”

Mari grinned as she leaned against the countertop across from Berlin. Colin was right next to her, somehow smelling way too good for a man who’d just spent a long time working out with her. How was that possible? Unfair, that was what it was.

“From what the DEA has found, Ackerman was definitely working for the Suarez cartel. He’s been moving stuff for them for about the last year. According to his wife—who the DEA interviewed, and Camila has confirmed that she saw the interview video—he started acting off about a year ago. He said he was working with some new clients, and while she was pretty sure that what he was doing was illegal, he didn’t seem scared. Just guilty almost. She even thought he might be having an affair. But then a month ago, she says he was actually scared. He told her that he was in over his head and that if he ever called and told her to run, she had to take their daughter and leave. Find friends or relatives to stay with and not even tell him where they were. He was worried he might be tortured and didn’t want to give away their location.”

“That’s intense,” Colin murmured.

Berlin nodded. “Agreed. She said she talked to a divorce attorney then because he scared her so much. Then he told her that he had a plan to keep them all alive, safe. That he was getting leverage.”

“I can see where this is going,” Mari murmured.

“Yep.” Berlin’s tone was dry. “He took something. She doesn’t know exactly what, but said he was planning to steal or copy records. Something that would give their family a way out. That’s all she claims to know. The DEA has torn apart their house but hasn’t found anything yet.”

Chance strode back into the room then, but was quiet as he slid onto the island seat next to his fiancée.

“I know this is a long shot, but did she know anything about me?” Mari asked. “Maybe the reason he wanted people to kill me?”

“Nope. And she wasn’t even sure who he worked for. He told her he was taking something from his boss. If I had to guess, it’s going to be accounting records or photos of something really bad. Maybe both.”

“What about the paid killers?” Colin asked, his voice flinty.

“They’ve already been processed and are officially in the system. They’re not getting bail, not that they’re asking for it. They’ve both confessed but have asked for specific accommodations and for a lesser sentence if they give up intel.”

“On the cartel?” Mari asked.

“That I don’t know. I just know they confessed to being hired by Ackerman to kill you. According to them, you knew something or overheard something.”

“Except that I didn’t.”

Berlin shrugged. “That’s what they’ve said. Do you remember exactly what you overheard him say?”

“Something about not liking the new direction someone was going. I didn’t recognize the voice of the man he was talking to though. The man had a hint of an accent but I couldn’t even tell you where from.”

“According to the DEA, the Suarez cartel has started moving weapons along with drugs. And potentially people, which wouldn’t surprise me at all because those organizations are all pieces of shit. If he thought you overheard him and that you were jeopardizing his chance to get leverage or whatever… I don’t know. Maybe he wanted to tie up any loose threads. His wife made it sound like he was getting ready to run with her and their daughter once he had what he needed.”

“What about the hired guns? Did they say anything else about Mari?” Colin asked, his tone hard.

“No. She was just a job to them. And two of the people who work at the original branch of Redemption Harbor have some…experience with hired killers.”

“Hit men?” Mari asked .

“Yes. They’ve reached out to old contacts and scoured the message boards. There are no contracts on you. On either of you,” Berlin added. “And I haven’t found any hint of anyone doing a search on either of your names. And no one out of the ordinary has been to either of your houses. Or your parents’ houses,” she added, looking between the two of them. “We’ve still got people watching them.”

More relief slid through her veins. “Does this mean we can leave?”

Berlin paused, then looked at Chance.

“Yes,” he said, glancing back at them. “We’ve looked at this from all angles, and with the information we have now, there is absolutely nothing that says anyone wants to kill you anymore. But you’re Berlin’s friend and she wants to keep you wrapped up in cotton for two more weeks.”

Mari snort-laughed as she looked at her friend. “I adore you.”

“And I adore you. And…I so want to hug you now, but you’re kinda gross.”

“You’re gross,” Mari muttered, but smiled.

Berlin grinned at her. “Look, I can’t find any active threats against you. But I’m still worried about you. I think you could probably go home and be fine, but I don’t know. I don’t love it.”

“What about work? Maybe I could work but stay somewhere else instead of home? At least for a few days?” She missed flying, missed being up in the air and leaving all the bullshit of the world behind. Flying truly was the best therapy. And orgasms.

“I don’t hate that.”

“How about you store your plane at my hangar for the next couple weeks, just to mix things up?” Colin asked.

She looked at him, nodded. “I can live with that.” There was a lot more she wanted to say to him, but now wasn’t the time.

It seemed as if they could go back to their real lives. Or at least cautiously return to them.

And she was pretty sure that she wasn’t invited into Colin’s life.