Hunter opened the door to his room before Toni had a chance to knock. “Morning,” he said as he looked down at her. Toni might be short, but she more than made that up with attitude and the unwavering willingness to follow through on any threat she gave.
“Morning my ass.”
“Toni,” muttered her boyfriend. “Good cop.” Scott Hart had a tendency to fall behind Toni, offering constant support and seemingly letting her walk all over him. But if you spent enough time with the couple, it became apparent that Hart wasn’t a doormat for Toni. In fact, seeing the two of them fight was one of the oddest experiences of his life. The room would go quiet as they’d stare each other down. The silent battle might go on for a few seconds or a few minutes, and Toni would be the one who gave in half the time. Hunter had a feeling she could win almost any fight with fists or words, but that silent strength that Hart would shoot at her would somehow break her down.
Unfortunately, Hunter didn’t have that silent fight capability.
“You brought a stranger into my home without prior approval or even thinking to mention it to me. Want to explain yourself?”
“I was helping a friend in need. Isn’t that what we do now? We help people.”
Even though he’d given an honest answer, somehow Toni seemed more upset by his words. “Tell me something, Hunter,” she asked all too innocently. “If you think it’s something we do and that I’d be okay with it, why didn’t you ask me first?”
Hunter was quiet. Sometimes if there was nothing good to say, silence was the best policy.
But, as he figured, Hart and Toni already knew everything he didn’t want them to. “Tell me about the Cooper family. Is that what this is about?”
“That’s a possibility.”
“Let me tell you about them,” said Toni in a not-so-helpful tone. “Mason Cooper was arrested under the RICO Act. He was messed up in dirty politics, money laundering, and got most of his own personal political fundraising from sizable donations from the local drug runners. Competing drug runners. It was almost a blessing that he got arrested or they probably would’ve killed him for running both sides. I also am aware that you worked for this man before shooting down one of his hired hands when you were a kid before Sterling pulled you out to groom you to be his personal guard dog. I get all of that. Dirty politician, young kid doing what he could to make a living until things went wrong. All of that makes sense to me. But what caused you to haul his daughter—who, by all reports is innocent, by the way—back here? And what caused the shootout in a fucking florist shop that ended up with one person dead that I’m sure you had nothing to do with? And, most importantly, why am I learning all this from Melissa and hacking into some local police databases instead of straight from your fucking mouth?”
Hunter stayed quiet again, but it was apparent that this act wasn’t going to fly for much longer when Hart said, “If you know what’s good for you, you won’t make the lady repeat her questions.”
Hunter wasn’t cocky. He knew his skills and knew he could take on Hart in a fair fight. The man was well trained and smart, but Hunter had been groomed to kill from a young age. Hart, as a former cop, was better at protecting than killing, even though Hunter knew he had gotten his hands dirty on occasion. But even though he knew he could take Hart in a fight, that didn’t mean the man would be a good enemy to have. And Toni, with her all-too-dangerous computer skills, would never let him get far if he hurt a hair on her lover’s head. So he finally broke his silence, but didn’t say anything new. “She needed help. We help people here.”
Toni sighed. “I swear, this guy could be tortured for a week straight and give nothing. Where’s your girlfriend? Maybe she’ll give me some answers.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he said quickly before he realized his mistake.
Toni, however, seemed overjoyed. She pushed her lips together, but her smile was more than evident.
Hart surely caught it too, but he was a cool enough guy not to point it out. “Where is Gabriella? We’ll ask her some basic questions.” Hunter was quiet once more, and Hart finally gave a little bit. “We’re with you, Hunter. You know that if you came to us for help we would’ve given you anything you needed and we’re here for you now. But you can’t go run off on your own like this. It’s dangerous to you, and anything that happens to you is personal to me. Got it?”
“I got it.”
Hart nodded. “Okay. Where is the girl?”
“She’s in Gage’s room.” He felt like he was betraying her, but he knew that Hart and Toni would be good allies. Especially considering Hunter really didn’t know where to go from here. Sure, he’d gotten Gabby out of the danger zone, but he couldn’t keep her here indefinitely. Especially not if she wanted to go home.
“She’s not in her room, though,” he said as Hart and Toni were walking away. “I heard her get up and wander around.”
“You just let her wander? What about all my stuff?”
Hunter frowned. “I assumed the innocent florist wouldn’t steal your computers.”
“We were just downstairs and we didn’t see her.”
“Some strange man just tried to kill her,” he pointed out. “I’m not surprised she didn’t introduce herself.” Hunter led the way down the hall and to the first floor. “Gabby!” he called, but there was no response. He, Hart, and Toni made a quick lap around the first story, but there was still no sign of her. It wasn’t until he reached the front of the house that he saw it. Fuck. His car was gone.
Toni and Hart came to a stop behind him. “We have a runner?” asked Toni.
“Fuck,” he muttered. He should’ve followed her. The second he heard her get up, he should’ve been on her ass. He should’ve been her goddamn shadow every time she emerged from that room. Fuck space. She didn’t need space; she needed a bodyguard to protect her from herself.
“I need a car,” he said.
Toni let out a laugh. “Car? Please. You should see our new plane.”
That had him turning around. “You bought a plane?”
“She stole a plane,” said Hart with a slight judging tone.
“I confiscated a plane,” she said defensively. “You know. So we can fly to rescue the damsel in distress. Because I’m a good person.”
Hart rolled his eyes but was smart enough to focus on the issue at hand. “What do you think? Should we call and get gassed up?”
There was no thinking about it. Hunter nodded. “The sooner we get there the better.”
“Where exactly do you want us to land?” asked Toni, even though she obviously already knew where he’d gotten Gabby from.
Hunter clenched his hands into fists as he imagined what he would do when he got his hands on Gabby again. “Home,” he said simply.