Page 14

CHAPTER 14

Willow

Home, he said. That’s what it felt like. Like finally I’m where I’m meant to be. Rising, I go to the bathroom and get a warm cloth and the trash can. After he removes the condom, I take my time cleaning him.

“Much more of that attention and you’re going to be grabbing another condom.”

“I need a little more time to recoup, big boy.”

He laughs. “Then come cuddle me.”

None of my exes ever wanted to cuddle. Diesel is the whole package. We sleep for a couple hours wrapped in each other’s arm before I hear Eizlee on the monitor.

I open the door to find Silo on the other side ready to knock. “Get Diesel. We have a situation.”

Turning back to the bed, Diesel is already on his feet with his pants on and a very lethal weapon in his hand. “Is Eizlee’s room secure?”

Silo nods.

“Willow, go to her and lock the door. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

After changing her, I try to keep her busy, but she’s always been an eat right now child.

“Eat, Low. Hunwe.”

Rooting in her diaper bag I find a packet of baby biscuits and give them to her. Can’t be that bad. I’ve had cookies for breakfast before.

Another thirty minutes pass and I’m starting to get scared. There’s a tap on the door. “Willow, it’s me. Open up.”

His hair is mussed, and his jaw is tight. “What’s wrong?”

Eizlee toddles over holding her arms up and starts to whimper. “D, hunwe.”

“I know, love. I’m so sorry.”

He kisses my cheek. “Come on. I’ll start breakfast and explain.” He runs his gaze down my body, taking in his T-shirt that I hastily donned. Grinning, he leans forward and kisses my cheek and whispers near my ear. “I love how sexy you look in my shirt, but we have company so you might want to dress. I sure as hell don’t want Diego and Silo looking at what I claim as mine.”

“Mine, my ass,” I say softly as I brush past him. Neanderthal.

“Yeah, that too,” he replies walking down the hall.

Ten minutes later I walk into the kitchen to find Diego and Diesel easily cooking and maneuvering in the kitchen. Raven is at the counter on her computer talking to someone on the screen. And shock of all shocks, Silo is playing blocks on the floor with Eizlee.

“What’s happened?”

Raven looks over and pats the stool next to her. “Someone tried to break into this building. Security was notified immediately, and they contacted Diego. We wouldn’t have thought too much of it, except they tried to use my thumbprint. And I wasn’t attached to it.”

“What? How?”

“Got something.” the guy on the screen interrupts.

“Go ahead, I-Tee. Oh, this is Willow by the way.”

He nods in greeting. “The person who was at the security console at the time in question was pretty well covered up. Dressed to look like an everyday street person hoping to get lucky. Or in this case, an educated person trying to break in. They must have checked your security pad set up beforehand. We’re running another program to see if we can see who or when on another computer.

“Anyway, the building keypad says thumb, but in your case it’s the fun finger. The question is, how did the person get a pretty clear image of your thumb print.

“By the way, what are you drinking? And what does your mug say?”

Wrapping her palm around the mug under the handle she holds it up. “It’s Sexday.”

“And that’s how they got it.”

“Huh?”

“Someone took your coffee mug and lifted the print. The way you hold the mug you leave a perfect print. Any mugs missing at work lately?

“I’m going to take it a step farther. Start checking your internal affairs staff. Anybody been sucking up lately?”

“Sucking up? No. There is this one shit head who thinks he’s better and smarter than I am. I heard him ask someone else who I was fucking to get the job. Lately, it feels like every time I turn around, he’s there.

“I’ve heard from others that he doesn’t like women on the force. Most of the other female officers call him Mr. Invisible because he’s never where he should be and always kissing the ass of superiors.”

“Wait, did you say invisible or invincible,” I ask.

Diesel stops what he’s doing. “Raven, I need to see what this guy looks like.”

Turning off the stove he comes to stand behind me.

Raven logs into her office and pulls up Jeffry Renolds. “There’s no photo in his file. We all have photos in our file. What the hell?”

“Read me his social security,” I-Tee snaps. “A few minutes later he sends her a photo. “Is this him?”

She studies it for a few minutes. “At first glance I almost said yes, but no. The hair is too long. He wears glasses, thick glasses. His eyes are brown not blue and he has a little bump on his nose like it was broken.”

“That’s Ryr from the club,” I say glancing over my shoulder at Diesel.

“Where did you get this,” he asks I-Tee.

“Roja was undercover at the club. This guy started hitting on her really hard. Wanted to know where she worked. Said she should be a professional dancer. Wanted her number. She got a shot of him when he was standing in front of one of the mirrors. She took a picture of her and her drinking buddy making sure she got his image in the background.

“You’re the wizard, right? Can you remove the bump from his nose. And make his eyes brown. Maybe shorten his hair,” I ask.

“Coming right up.”

“He’s too tall,” Raven says.

“He wears lifts in his shoes at the club. He’s not that tall,” I say.

Five minutes later, I-Tee displays the two photos side by side.

“That sonofabitch” Raven jumps to her feet. “He’s the inside man. I’ve got to get a hold of Belcher and let him know what’s going on.”