Chapter Sixteen

“I’m not calling in. Period.” Lacie put her hand on her hip and glared at Simon, who was ready for a run she wasn’t taking today.

“You got maybe two hours of sleep last night, were almost blown up, and you’re seriously going to hang around a bunch of five-year-olds?”

“Yes. If I give in, that’s what they want. I don’t know who’s doing all this, but I do know I’m not going to change my life and become a hermit because of it.” She had already been somewhat of a hermit, and her job was her only interaction with people for the most part. She wasn’t about to give that up.

“That’s not why I want you to call in today.”

They were standing at the coffee pot, the uber-expensive piece of French machinery that told Lacie this man spent his money on important things.

“Then, why? What could I possibly do today if I don’t go to my job? Watch TV on your enormous television?”

To his credit, Simon looked a little chagrined. “Go to the office with me. I have to follow up on some leads. Or at least find some,” he muttered.

“Well, that doesn’t sound productive for me, Simon. Unless you have another compelling reason, I’m going in to work.”

He looked at her, opening his mouth and shutting it, looking like a fish out of water, but his eyes said it all. He wanted her with him. She knew he remembered last night, he just didn’t know how to say words that meant he actually cared for her. She could say them but didn’t want to put words in his mouth—she wanted to hear him say them.

Instead, he said, “Let me call Dex to go in with you. You’re not going to be there alone.”

If he’d only told her something that made her think he wanted her with him, and not made her feel like an inconvenience, she would have called in. Dad would have understood. The sub would love the extra money in the summertime. But no, he’d only made this about the job and her safety.

Lacie drank her coffee and listened to Simon call Dex, then Quinten for a ride to the rental car place. When he hung up, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He was the epitome of frustration.

“Please?”

She knew what he wanted. She had hopes for why he wanted it, but she was finished with making things easy for Simon Pierce. His house spoke of things handed to him on a silver platter, and she’d be danged if she was going to follow along with his whims.

Lacie knew that was all wrong as soon as she thought it, but she couldn’t reconcile her thoughts with what fell out of her mouth.

“Please what, Simon?” Instead of being her normal, agreeable self, she cocked her hip out and propped her hand on it. She knew this was for her safety, and she knew things had gotten more intense, but she just couldn’t roll over for these rotten pieces of scum who had targeted her in their sick games.

“Please come with me?” That had obviously been hard for him to say. His voice was hoarse and low, as if he were biting back an emotion she desperately longed to understand.

She would ask one more time and then she was done. “Why?”

He clenched his fist and set his mug on the countertop hard enough to crack it. “Never fucking mind. Do what you want.” Spinning around, he stormed out of the room.

Lacie should have been satisfied she had made the indomitable Simon Pierce almost lose it, but she didn’t. She almost took it back and agreed to go with him, but her initial argument won out.

If she agreed, Simon would win this battle she didn’t understand but was fighting anyway. She was determined to get the upper hand and had no idea what she was doing.

Lacie couldn’t relax around Dex. That’s how he’d introduced himself, but she’d called him Mr. Hollerman around the children all day. He didn’t have the easiness around the kids Simon had grown into, and it kept her from being able to let down her guard. It was silly. She knew he worked for Simon and was here to protect her in his absence, but his lofty, unyielding demeanor was making it hard to relax.

He was still a strange man, and Lacie had had enough of strange men to last her a lifetime.

Declining lunch in the lounge, Lacie preferred the quiet of her empty classroom. She laid her head on her desk and replayed the events of last night. The kiss. The orgasm. The explosion. Quinten coming for them. The police station. Her insistence she come to work today.

True to form, Simon hadn’t brought up the incident in the Jeep afterward. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Some part of her expected it, but another part was hurt regardless.

As if sensing her lack of sleep and her distrust of Dex, the children had been loud and unruly.

The kids were starting to file in, followed by a much droopier Dex. Wondering if Emily had tried to seduce him in the teacher’s lounge, Lacie took a cleansing breath, determined to finish her day strong.

Simon was back at Pierce Securities’ office suite looking at the giant stack of paperwork he was woefully behind on. After the night from hell, dealing with police reports on the “accident”, and then this morning with the rental car company, Simon had sent Dex to school with Lacie so she’d be protected. Although, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted her here with him.

But she needed some semblance of normalcy. His pleasurable distraction had backfired—with gusto.

Sifting through paperwork, he found the file Hollerman had prepared for Lacie’s case. Opening it, his heart lodged firmly in his throat, he reread about the other women who’d been attacked. Nothing had changed. There was no clarity in the case; even with all that had happened, Simon still knew next to nothing.

Heaving a sigh, he stood and went into the bathroom to change clothes and go to the gym. He needed to clear his head.

Starting the treadmill, he ran at a brutal pace for twenty minutes, his mind racing. Thoughts of Lacie last night kept invading his mind, and he couldn’t help but blame himself.

He’d busted through the protection detail with her and made things personal. Not five minutes later, her life was in danger. It was as if the universe was illustrating perfectly why he shouldn’t get involved with her.

Ryan loped into the gym when Simon was finishing his run. The three-mile jaunts with Lacie were nice but didn’t really do much for him. He moped over to the bar weights and settled one across his hips and began the thrusts, feeling the burn in his underused glutes, thighs, and abdomen almost immediately.

“I read over Hollerman’s notes. He wanted a fresh set of eyes while you weren’t here. It’s a tricky case, Sarge.” Ryan’s voice was affable but held the weight of concern.

“I can’t figure out how he’s targeting them.”

Ryan settled at the hand weights and began some bicep curls. “Yeah, it’s like he’s got them up on some cattle call to the highest bidder somewhere they don’t even know about.”

“Highest-bidding sicko. Did you see their rap sheets? Some of these guys are total dipshits. It’s like they’re doing this for fun or something.” Simon had finally gotten some sheets on a few of the perps who’d been caught in the act. Sexual predator mentality was perverse and sickening. The ringleader was using it as some sort of human trafficking ring, but this was different. The women were being used to satisfy some sort of stalker fetish or something. Over and over. Like a reusable commodity. Almost like washable paper plates. They’d be good for a while, but they were eventually going to have to be disposed of. The thought sickened Simon.

“Yeah. The girls have to have something in common that we’re not seeing,” Ryan agreed.

Simon continued his pelvic lifts. “Maybe we should look closer at the suspects in custody, see where they hang out, go there and ask questions. Where do they work? Or even put ourselves in their place.” He shuddered at the thought. “Go around like we’re looking for the girls. We know what they’re like, maybe we could act like we need someone to stalk?” Christ, where did someone go to do something like that? “Is there a club for that kind of thing?” If there were, he was sure he’d have come across it on the force. It couldn’t be legal.

Fuck.

Jordan had slunk in while they were talking and started working out, silent until now.

“You want me to put in some overtime?” Jordan grunted through a bicep curl.

“Yes. I want all hands on this. See what you can do in the downtime from other cases.” Simon laughed ruefully. They were almost at capacity. “When is Evan coming back? I need him on her laptop.”

Before he got an answer, Simon’s phone rang.

It was Quinten. “I wanted to let you know I’m at the police station. A rep from her utility company came by Lacie’s house to fix something. He had a bag full of fresh camera equipment. I subdued him and called the cops.”

“This could be the break I need. Thanks.” Simon hung up, feeling less lost but with a fresh wave of anger. Before he could act on anything, his sister came barreling into the gym, her hands on her hips.

“You’re doing it again,” she stated firmly, her voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Miriam was following behind her, brimming with curiosity. Simon rolled his eyes. Nice. The entire company was hearing family business. Not that he had a clue what was going on.

“What the fuck are you even doing here? It’s not safe.” His thoughts immediately went to Jonas, and something started firing in his brain. Jonas. He’d been thinking of Jonas as something extra to be working on, but this issue with Lacie could have Jonas’s fingerprints all over it. It was the type of twisted shit he would be into.

Bonnie was busy rolling her eyes at him, while he was desperately trying to put puzzle pieces together. “Whatever, Simon. I’m grown. We’ve had this conversation already. Quinten called and told me you’re doing it again, so I came down to talk some sense into you.”

“Doing what again, Bonnie?” He was reaching for patience, but it wasn’t coming to him. Zack was supposed to be keeping her away until they could get a handle on the extremely dangerous Jonas. “Where’s Zack?”

“Like he’d show up here for you to lose your shit with him. He’s at the hotel, still sleeping.” She put her hand on her hips and got in his face, going back to her original intent for accosting him. If one more woman struck this pose with him today, he was going to lose his shit. Memories of Lacie this morning—hands on her hips and fire in her eyes—momentarily distracted him until Bonnie started speaking again. “You’re putting yourself out there. This one’s only going to do the same damn thing. She’s using you for something, and you’re setting yourself up for betrayal and heartbreak here.”

“Are you comparing her to Tanya?” Thoughts still on Lacie, Simon was having a hard time with what Bonnie was saying.

Jutting one hip out to the side, her eyes flashed. Dammit. Simon gritted his teeth together. “If the shoe fits.”

“Lacie is nothing like Tanya. Cut this out.” His voice was dangerous, and he hated taking this tone with his sister, but she was pushing his buttons on purpose.

Bonnie stalked up to him, her breath hot on his face. “Have you crossed the line with her?”

Simon’s fingers anxiously thrummed at his thighs. Hell yeah, he had, but he had bigger things to worry about right now, like getting to the police station and figuring out who had sent the utility guy to her house. And figuring out if Jonas was behind this. He had to be. Seeing his sister suddenly put the pieces together for him, and he knew he was right about this.

Gently putting his hands on Bonnie’s shoulders, Simon pushed her back and brought his face down even with hers. “Tanya was a manipulative bitch who was sleeping with the enemy. Lacie is an innocent. She’s fresh and pure and everything Tanya wasn’t.” Bonnie’s eyes lit with something like triumph, but Simon was too far gone. “She’s a fighter, she’s strong, and she’s going to get through this. Right now, everything’s professional. This case is hurting a lot of innocent women and I need to see it through. She’s not Tanya, she’s a job. Now take your terrier ass and get out of here.”

She grinned up at him. “Gotcha.”

Simon did a double-take. “What?”

“You like her. You should get over yourself and be with her.”

Simon’s head spun. What the fuck was she up to? Was everyone here about the matchmaking? He wasn’t in this business to find hookups, for Christ’s sake. He lost it—stalking around, yelling, the whole shebang. These women were going to be the death of him.

“Look, Lacie is a case. I’m working a case. Everything is professional, and when the case is finished, at least a half-dozen women in the metropolis of Austin will be safer. And I’ll be done. There’s nothing more to this, Bonnie. Let it fucking go. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get to the police station.”

He turned and grabbed a towel, just noticing Lacie and Hollerman standing at the door. He couldn’t be deterred again. “I’ve got a lead. I’m going to the station. Take her to my house and stay with her until I get there. Miriam’s got an extra set of keys.” Simon strode out of the room singly focused on his end-goal, leaving a triumphant Bonnie and a heartbroken Lacie, who had heard his tirade, in his wake.