Page 19 of Midnight’s Captive (Stroke of Midnight #2)

“Whiskey neat, please.”

Taryn looked up into gray eyes that she hadn’t expected to see again. Warmth flared in her belly, but she was still pissed that he hadn’t shown up yesterday. “Look who finally showed up.” Dammit. That came out snippy. There was no reason for him to know that she’d missed him. No, she hadn’t missed him. She’d just expected he would answer the Jack’s summons.

She poured his drink—a top-shelf bottle because she wasn’t letting him off easy—and set it in front of him without further comment.

Her fingers brushed his when she took the credit chip he offered and her skin tingled where they touched. The Jack’s reputation was the only thing that kept her from jerking her hand away.

“I’m sorry, Taryn.”

He whispered her name softly and it was easy, so easy, to imagine him using it like that in a more intimate setting. Except...

She grabbed his wrist and leaned close over the bar. “How do you know my name?”

His gaze searched hers. “You’re not the only one who can find information.”

That was true. Her name wasn’t a secret, but she mostly went by “the Jack” these days. People respected the name—the title—and it served as a reminder of who they were dealing with. Her real name only came out in softer moments with friends or lovers.

Could she see Ash in either of those roles?

As a lover, yes. She suppressed a shiver, imagining all those delicious tingles everywhere.

As a friend? A man who dug up secrets? That required a level of trust she wasn’t sure she could manage.

“I need two beers and a tequila shot.”

The order broke the spell Taryn had been under. While she’d never admit it, she was grateful for the interruption. “Coming up.”

The routine allowed her to settle her thoughts and steady her nerves. Pull it together, Taryn. It’s a transaction, like all the others the Jack makes every day .

Nerves settled, she still braced herself to hear him say her name again. Instead, he said, “I was surprised to get your note. How did you do it?”

A half smile curved her lips. That had taken a little, no, a lot of thought on her part, but she was pleased that she’d managed to infiltrate the Tremaine Corporation. “Trade secret.”

He smiled and saluted her with his glass. He didn’t bitch, he didn’t moan. Between that and his smile, she had the warm fuzzies.

“Why did you drop the ban?”

“We need to talk.”

“About Hope?” he asked quietly.

She nodded. The bar wasn’t the place for this conversation. “We’ll talk in my office when Dani gets back.”

“That’s the bartender?”

“Yep, that’s me.” Dani appeared at her side. She frowned slightly at Ash, then turned to Taryn. “Thanks for covering for me, boss.”

“No problem. You good out here?” Part of her hoped Dani would say no, would give her an excuse to not be alone with Ash in her office.

Dani studied the patrons at the counter and then swept her gaze over the wider bar. “Yeah, I’m good. I’ll call you if there’s trouble.”

Taryn nodded, though she really hoped that trouble, whatever form it took, didn’t show up tonight.

Ash’s gaze swung between them. “You’re having trouble?”

“No.” Both women spoke in unison.

“Grab your drink,” Taryn said, “and follow me.”

Taryn waved Ash into her office. The entire walk from the bar area to the back, she’d felt his gaze, his presence, and it took effort not to squirm. She took a moment at the door to breathe, then took her seat behind the desk.

“It must be serious,” Ash said.

“What is?” She was curious how his mind worked.

“Whatever caused you to drop the ban and send the note.” His brows furrowed and the corners of his mouth turned down. “Are you planning to turn me in?”

Taryn blinked in surprise. “Why would I do that?”

“A better offer?” His concern was reflected in his eyes.

She laughed. “Right now, every offer is better than yours.” When he opened his mouth to object, she shook her head. “You asked for my help, but you never said what you were willing to pay.”

He swallowed hard and she watched his Adam’s apple bob. “Whatever you want, it’s yours.”

She sighed. “Maybe it’s better that you’re on a leash if that’s how you negotiate.”

“I..” Ash trailed off and snapped his mouth shut.

“I’m going to ask you some questions,” she said, “and I expect answers. Truthful ones. Or the ban will be back in place before you can blink.” Ash didn’t know what she’d decided yet, and she was going to use that to her advantage.

Ash nodded.

“Yes or no?”

“Yes,” Ash said.

“What were you going to offer me to rescue your sister?”

He set his drink on her desk and leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees. “Money,” he said quickly. “I have some saved. Or I did before I was captured. I assume it’s still there. And I’ve got a building.”

“A building?” She hadn’t intended to interrupt, but that was not what she was expecting.

“Yeah, an old warehouse near the water. We lived there sometimes.” He canted his head to the side. “And secrets,” he said finally.

“Secrets?” Secrets were always handy. But they were dangerous too. The old Jack would have taken them in a heartbeat. Taryn was more cautious.

He raised a hand to the back of his neck, then dropped it back in his lap. “Because you’re the Jack. I figured you could do something with them.”

“And you can’t?”

He shook his head. “Not to get my sister out.”

“Fair enough. You were a hacker and you were obviously good at it if you’ve got money and a building, so why didn’t you ask someone from pre-Tremaine days for help?”

He finished his drink in one long swallow. “I’ve been out of the game for five years. I don’t know who’s around. Who to trust.”

Taryn leaned forward. “Why do you think you can trust me?”

“I don’t,” he said. “But you’re the Jack. Unless things have changed, the Jack will do anything if the price is right.”

Ash wasn’t wrong. Though he wasn’t quite right either. She’d eliminated some of the more problematic aspects of the previous Jacks’ business. Refused business in some darker gray areas.

“So why now? Why the sudden urge to leave? You’ve been there five years. Did they suddenly threaten your sister?”

He unclenched his jaw before answering. “It’s time.”

“That’s not an answer,” Taryn pressed. Sure, she’d basically decided that she was going to take the job, but they needed to establish some ground rules first.

“It just is.” Ash leaned back in the chair, arms crossed over his chest like a recalcitrant child.

Taryn echoed his position and kicked her feet up onto the desk. “Look, you’re the one asking for help. It’s nothing to me if Hope gets out of the Tremaine hospital or doesn’t. But you’re wasting my time, and my patience isn’t going to last much longer.”

Ash looked everywhere in the room except at her before he spoke. “I... may have been poking around in places that I shouldn’t have been.”

“And?” she prodded.

“And I might have uncovered some Tremaine family secrets that I shouldn’t have.” He looked pale admitting that.

Taryn sucked in a breath. Oh shit. Did he mean...

“So the timing,” she chose her words carefully, “is related to the recent... revelations?”

He stared at her for a few long seconds, then gave a sharp nod.

Shit. The explosive news about the long-lost Tremaine daughter—and Phillip Tremaine’s horrifying organ harvesting program—had dominated the headlines since the bombing. Everyone in the city had speculated about how the news had come out. “Do the Tremaines know?”

He leaned forward. “I don’t know for sure. They’ve got someone looking into it.”

“That’s a problem.” One she wasn’t entirely sure how to solve. “Is that person any good?”

He smiled and her heart nearly stopped. “Yeah, I’m the best there is.”

Her boots hit the floor as she shifted closer to her desk. “Portia Tremaine hired you to investigate yourself?”

His smile was a mix of proud and sheepish.

“Why you?”

“She called me into her office and dropped a bombshell on me.”

“Let me guess. On Tuesday.” The day he’d strolled into her bar.

He nodded. “Yeah. When I tried to get out of it, she threatened Hope.”

“That’s cold.” Portia Tremaine was called the Ice Queen and personally, Taryn had no problem with a woman doing whatever it took to get ahead in business. No one else was going to look out for you. But, damn, threatening a coma patient... that seemed wrong.

Ash frowned. “She didn’t threaten-threaten her,” he said. “Just reminded me that they had her as leverage. Like I’ve forgotten over the last five years.” His tone was bitter.

“What exactly is she having you look into?”

He looked away again before he spoke. “She wants me to locate whoever assisted Leopold Brunswick with his plans.”

For the second time that night, he’d surprised her. “Not just the news about Dizzie, then.” It wasn’t a question.

He gave the slightest head shake.

Why the hell did all these people keep showing up at her bar? “You were responsible for the bombing?”

“No! I didn’t know anything about that.” Ash shot to his feet, his fists clenched at his sides. His chair rocked with the violence of his movement, then settled back into place. “He just asked me to find information he could use against Phillip Tremaine. He said he could help me get free from the company and I—” He shook his head and looked at his feet. “After hearing that, I didn’t ask any questions.”

Brunswick sounded like as much of an asshole as the previous Jack had been. And that was a pretty fucking high bar. “He won’t turn you in?”

Gray eyes met her gaze. “Portia says he’s dead. If she’s telling the truth, he’s not a problem.”

“Have you considered just blackmailing your way out?” Blackmail was an effective tool, though personally Taryn didn’t like to use it. It wasn’t a permanent solution to problems.

“What?”

“You admitted that you dug up Tremaine’s big secret.” Secrets, probably. “Tell Portia that you’ll keep quiet if she lets the two of you go.”

Ash dropped back into his seat and stared at her like she’d grown two heads. “If I tell Portia I’ve got her secrets, she’ll know I was the one who helped him and I’ll never see daylight again. I don’t know what she would do to Hope.” He shook his head. “No, I won’t risk it.”

Taryn studied the man in front of him. The love and care he showed for his sister got to her. What would it be like to have a champion like that? Someone who put you first?

It was a surprising and endearing trait in a man who was obviously willing to cross the line between right and wrong.

What other Tremaine secrets had he uncovered? Could she request those as payment?

Even as the thought crossed her mind, she dismissed it. She needed his skills and he obviously had them if what he was telling her was true.

Dizzie’s fairy tale romance with Killian St. John, one of the hottest men in the world, overshadowed whatever other secrets might have been revealed. No one knew exactly what had happened between them last month, but they appeared inseparable whenever the newsies showed them.

The romance portion, Taryn happened to believe. She’d seen the two of them together when they’d been in hiding. The way St. John had looked at the courier... well, Taryn would never admit it, but it made even her callous heart race.

“Any other information I should know before I make a decision? Withholding information puts me at risk and it will put Hope at risk, too.”

“No, I swear. That’s why we need to move. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to pretend to be searching for myself.”

“So back to my original question? What is this rescue worth to you?”