Page 16 of Midnight’s Captive (Stroke of Midnight #2)

After Taryn completed the scan—no sign of a second chip—Giselle returned to her room and Taryn returned to the business of running the bar. She found Dani pacing outside her office.

“Everything okay?” Honestly, Taryn wasn’t sure she could handle another issue tonight, but as the owner of Razor Jack’s, that was her job.

Dani shrugged. “How was the scan?”

“Clear.” Taryn sighed and let them both into the office. “I didn’t expect another chip, but I really want to know how that fucker made his way here.” She waved Dani toward a chair and pulled two bottles of fizzy water out of the small cooling unit she kept there. No caffeine, no alcohol. She needed to be clear-headed to deal with this new problem.

“Are you sure she didn’t contact him?” Dani’s voice was purely professional, but the pinch of her lips revealed how much she hated asking that question.

“Yeah, she was really freaked out. I’m sure it wasn’t her. Everything okay out there after I left?”

The silence grew and Taryn dropped her head into her hands. She’d really, really intended it as a rhetorical question.

“Crap.” She lifted her head. “What happened? Was it the pimp?”

Dani set her water on the corner of the desk. “No, he didn’t come back. It was...” She trailed off. “Never mind. It’s probably nothing and you’ve got enough going on.”

“No. If something is going on, I need to know.”

“That’s just it,” Dani said. “It’s nothing concrete. Just... a feeling, maybe?”

Taryn trusted her implicitly. “No. It’s something. You don’t get worried otherwise. I trust your instincts. Tell me.”

Dani sighed and leaned back in her chair. “You’re supposed to tell me that I’m wrong.”

“Tell me what you’ve got and maybe I will. But I know better than to ignore your instincts.”

Fiddling with her ring, Dani collected her thoughts. Taryn was impatient to know what had brought her friend and second-in-command here, but also appreciated the few moments of silence before the next problem hit.

“It’s Rhonda. Something’s going on,” Dani said finally. She held up her hand to stop Taryn from asking any questions. “No, I don’t know exactly what. I tried asking, but she completely shut me down.”

“But?” Dani knew the bar staff as well as Taryn did, if not better. If she’d noticed something amiss, she was probably right.

“But... she’s been late for shifts. Not flighty late or stuck-in-traffic late. Just... late. Less talkative. Not just when I ask her questions. With the other staff and the customers.”

Taryn’s lips pinched and she pondered Dani’s information. Rhonda had been here six months and she’d always been quiet, self-contained. She was making good progress, but although Taryn didn’t have a set timeline for anyone to get back on their feet, Rhonda wasn’t as far along as Taryn would like.

That was okay, she reminded herself. Everyone dealt with trauma differently. Rhonda had refused therapy. There was no way Taryn would or could force her to go. She had to want to be there. Maybe she should have pushed the other woman a little harder.

“It’s not your fault.” Dani’s voice was sharp.

“I didn’t say anything,” Taryn said harshly.

“You didn’t have to. You’re blaming yourself. I can tell.”

True. But Dani didn’t have to call her on it. Taryn huffed out a sigh. “I should have made sure she got therapy. Or, I don’t know, socialized more.”

“That’s not the way it works,” Dani countered. “You know that. You give them a safe place to land and an amazing support system. The rest is up to them. To us.” She pressed a hand against her chest, including herself in the group of women Taryn had rescued.

Or rather, had helped to rescue themselves. Dani was correct. Taryn couldn’t force them—they had to do the work themselves.

“You’re right, you’re right.” Taryn held her hands up in surrender.

Dani laughed. Then both women sobered.

“What do you think we should do?” Taryn asked.

“I don’t know. That’s why I was hoping maybe you’d noticed. Maybe you’d have ideas.” Dani sighed. “Rhonda’s been here a few months and hasn’t given us a reason to worry about her. It’s just recently...” her voice trailed off. “That’s why I’m worried.”

Dammit. Now Taryn was too. “Do you want me to talk to her?”

Dani pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “I don’t know. For now, could you keep an eye on her too? Maybe I’m just imagining it?”

Taryn was pretty sure Dani wasn’t. “Sure,” she said. “I trust you, but I’ll watch her the next few days.”

“Thanks,” Dani said.

“Any other potential problems I need to worry about?”

“I don’t think so. We did inventory tonight and the order should be here tomorrow afternoon.”

Taryn nodded. That was good—weekends were always busy.

“The schedule’s set and Rhonda will be here both nights.”

“I’ll definitely be on the floor, so I’ll check on her,” Taryn said.

“I think that’s all I’ve got,” Dani said. “Anything I need to know?”

“I’m going to rescue Ash’s sister.” Taryn’s jaw dropped. She had not intended to say that. She hadn’t even decided.

Dani looked horrified. “You just got Giselle out. You usually wait a few months until the next one.”

“I know.” Dani wasn’t telling her anything Taryn hadn’t already considered. “I know,” she said more firmly. “And I’d decided against it. But... I just can’t stop thinking about her.” She clenched her fists. “I can’t not help.”

“Why did he come to you?” Dani leaned forward, her elbows braced on the desk.

Taryn laughed bitterly. “Remember how he didn’t know I was the Jack? He used to come here when the old Jack was in charge.”

Dani’s eyes widened. “Wha?—”

Taryn continued. “That’s not even the best part. He works for a corporation. Tremaine Corporation.” Taryn held her breath, waiting for Dani’s reaction. Her friend didn’t disappoint.

“No.” Dani practically shouted. “No. No. No.”

“Tell me how you really feel.” Taryn could joke about it now, but Dani’s reaction wasn’t that different from her own.

“I don’t like it,” Dani said. “It’s too coincidental. We had that dustup with Tremaine Security last month. Now one of their hackers shows up asking for help?” She shook her head. “It’s a trap.”

“I thought the same thing, but I don’t think it is.” Taryn sighed and leaned back in her chair. “His sister needs some serious help. How could I say no?”

“How did he know about the rescue operation?” Dani’s voice still carried a thread of doubt.

“I don’t think he did. I think he came here knowing that the Jack does—did—almost anything for a price.” That question had kept her up. That and her unlikely and unwanted attraction to the man.

“Why doesn’t he just use his corporate ties?” Dani asked. “He has to have some, right?”

“Um.” Taryn hedged and squeezed her eyes shut. Dani wasn’t going to like this part either. She looked at her friend reluctantly. “We’d be rescuing her from Tremaine Corporation.”

Dani erupted from her chair. “That’s insane. You know that, right?”

When Taryn didn’t respond, Dani dropped her palms on the desk and leaned over it to stare at her. “We don’t even know how Giselle’s pimp found her here. And now you want to go up against a corporation?” She shook her head in confusion. “Why? Why would you risk that? What has he promised you?”

Maybe she should reconsider. Taryn hadn’t decided— thought she hadn’t decided—until she opened her mouth and the words came out. “We didn’t discuss payment,” she said sheepishly, ducking her head so she wouldn’t see the disappointment in Dani’s eyes.

“Is it because you think he’s hot?” Dani circled the desk to Taryn’s side and sat on the edge. “Because if you need to get laid that badly, we can get that taken care of, no suicide mission required.”

“No! It’s not because of that.” Shit. That didn’t come out right. Taryn threaded her fingers through her hair and clasped the sides of her head. “I mean, I don’t think that’s why. I think he really needs help.”

Dani glared at Taryn another few seconds, then leaned back on the desk. “We’re really doing this?”

“Yeah.” Her voice squeaked. “Yes,” Taryn said, putting more gravity into her tone. “Yes, we’re going to help him. Her. Them.”

“You’re crazy, you know that, right?” Dani said.

“Yeah, probably.”

“All right. I’m in.”

Taryn raised a brow. “I don’t have a plan yet.”

“Oh, I know. That’s why I’m in. You need help and someone you can trust. That’s me.”

She looked at her best friend. Dani had been invaluable in planning some of the rescues. Her strategic mind was damned impressive.

“Okay. Thank you. But only for the planning. I don’t want you involved in the execution. I don’t want you drawing the company’s attention.”

“Fair enough,” Dani said after thinking it over.

“Plus I need you to run the bar.”

“Of course you do.” Dani laughed.

“And first...” Taryn paused, embarrassment tinting her cheeks. “I need to let Ash know he’s not banned anymore.”

“You’re insane,” Dani said through exasperated laughter.

Yeah, she probably was.