Chapter Six
“Well, look what the cat dragged in.”
Zane had stepped no more than five feet in the door at work, and Reece was already on him from the weight room.
After a moment of thought, Zane turned and walked into the weight room. If he tried too hard to act nonchalant, Reece would sense it and pounce.
The last thing he wanted was for anyone else at the firm to ask too many questions. He needed to keep this situation contained. The more people involved, the fewer options he had.
Given that no one was peppering him with questions, that suggested Cage hadn’t mentioned the little late night visit.
“Out late last night?” Reece asked. The man shot him a wide grin.
Zane shrugged. “I was working out here last night.”
“Sounds like a hot date for you.”
Reece was younger than many of the other men on the team, but just as good. Although maybe a little fuller of himself than necessary. His good looks had gotten him far in many ways. Dimples, brown wind-swept hair and charm out the ass. It drove Zane crazy sometimes.
“Screw you, Reece.” Zane frowned at him, but that only spurred the other man on more.
“Oh, that’s right. You’ve taken a vow of celibacy. How’s that working out for you? Does that extend to Miss Rosie Palm?”
Zane could deal with this kind of typical macho banter. It rolled off his back, and it’d set the other men at ease. He raised his middle finger.
“Thanks, but you aren’t my type,” Reece said with a grin. He glanced over to Bryce, who only rolled his eyes.
“Not all of us jump on the first thing that moves,” Bryce said. “It’s called having standards.”
Reece turned to where Bryce was sitting at the weights and snorted loudly. “Whatever, you took the same celibacy vow.”
Bryce raised a brow. “Or maybe I just don’t kiss and tell. You know, being a gentleman and all.”
For a minute, the stress of the previous night faded away, and Zane allowed himself a grin.
Reece and Bryce were always like this. Going back and forth with one another. Zane suspected that was why they often got paired for work. Someone had to temper Reece, and the older contractor was just the man for the job.
Bryce was even tempered and far more methodical than he ever let on. Plus, despite being nearly forty, he was easily one of the strongest men there.
Well, besides Ryan.
The big guy on the other side of the gym was hard to miss, even though he’d been quiet and sticking to his work out, with his shaved head, bulging muscles, and tattoos on nearly every open space besides his head. He was intimidating times ten, even to a guy like Zane.
Reece followed Zane’s eyes and leaned in toward him.
“You know I heard yesterday he was special ops in the military. Some elite big shot when he was in or something.” Reece spoke quietly so only they could hear.
Zane gave him a shallow nod.
There were always a few rumors about the quiet Ryan. He was new, not quite as new as Zane, but still he hadn’t been with the firm all that long.
He kept to himself mostly and never worked with any of the other men. When it came to Ryan, he was a bit of a mystery, but he was reliable and that was all they really needed to know.
Obviously the Allens trusted him enough to hire him to do sensitive security work.
But Zane didn’t have time for this right now, no matter how curious he might be about Ryan. With the Russians looking for Ellen, he needed information, and he needed it fast. He didn’t want his personal business spilling over too much, but he wasn’t going to not take advantage of some of the resources available to him.
“Hey, Bryce,” he said. “I got a question for you.”
“What?”
“You still got your connections with the department?”
The older man nodded.
Bryce had served on the police force for a number of years before quitting. Something about a case that went wrong, though no one seemed to know all the particular details.
It wasn’t something Bryce talked about, and it wasn’t exactly something that Zane wanted to pry into.
They all had their secrets, and sometimes it was better if they stayed that way. Lord knew he had his own dark things from the past he was still trying to outrun.
There were a few other people with police connections that people in the firm could call on, such as one of the Allen brothers, Kace, but Zane wasn’t as close to them. He wanted to deal with people he knew wouldn’t ask questions. Or at least too many questions.
“What’s up?” Bryce asked.
If he could, Zane would rather not involve his partners. There were so many directions this thing could go, and he wasn’t so sure he wanted them around to see what he might do, especially if he had to negotiate.
He didn’t like the idea of working with the mob, but he’d do what he needed to in order to keep Ellen safe. Just asking a few questions shouldn’t be too dangerous.
“I just wanted to know how entrenched the mob is in the force.”
Zane tried to stay as nonchalant as he could, but no one offhanded mentioned the mob presence in the force without a reason.
Bryce rubbed a hand over the scruff on his face. “More than a little,” he said. “Last I’d heard, they have deep pockets and are willing to pay well for looking the other way.” He shrugged. “It’s worse now that the Kellys have stepped back a bit, and the Russians are stepping up, splashing a lot more cash around. The Kellys never needed as many corrupt cops, because they tended to be pretty specific in what they were doing and liked to stay away from law enforcement, corrupt or otherwise. You know, they stayed in their lane. These new guys though…” He shook his head.
Disgust swept over Bryce’s face, and Zane knew that the corruption still bothered him despite having left the force.
“What’s going on?” Reece asked, his light manner from before now all gone. “Need some help?”
Zane shook his head. Better to keep his distance. Even Cage knowing something was up was already too much.
“Just a new case,” he said. “Just getting some background intel. I don’t want to be surprised by anything and step on the wrong toes if I don’t have to.”
“It’s not about that new drug out, is it?” Reece said.
Zane looked over at him and shook his head. “New drug?”
Reece nodded and leaned against a weight rack. “Yeah, it’s not made the news yet, but it will. Been a ton of this shit on the market in the last few weeks. More addictive than heroin and half the cost. The hospitals have been flooded with people on the stuff. Fucking scourge.”
Zane hadn’t really heard about any new drug. But he had been so focused on finishing his previous case that he had barely come up for air. There could have been a nuclear war and he might not have noticed.
“Don’t think this has anything to do with that,” he said. “But you never know.”
Bryce leaned in, his gaze intense. “You’re not planning on doing anything crazy, are you?”
Zane debated asking what crazy entailed but decided against it. The last thing he needed was people worrying over him. Worried people started doing crazy things of their own.
He clapped Bryce on the shoulder. “Not if I can help it. That’s why I want to make sure I know what I’m getting into.”
He turned to leave when he saw Reed Allen signal him from the top of the stairs. As bosses went, he was one of the better ones Zane had worked for. Reed liked to take in a person’s skills and make sure they were able to use them in the best ways possible.
Zane made his way over to the bottom of the stairs where Reed met him.
“I heard from Cage about the late-night visit,” Reed said.
Zane grunted and ran a hand through his hair. He’d hoped Cage wouldn’t say anything, but it was a bit much to ask a man to lie to both his brother and his boss, especially when his brother was his boss.
“Yeah, about that,” Zane said, holding up his hands. “She ran into a bit of trouble, and she was close. It won’t happen again.”
Reed shook his head. “No problem,” he said. “For people in our line of work, trouble seems to come knocking on the door.”
Wasn’t that the fucking truth? Zane gave a little laugh.
He stilled when Reed placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“I know you haven’t been with us long, but we’re a family here, whether or not your last name is Allen,” Reed said. “You need help or anything, don’t be afraid to ask.”
Family. That wasn’t really a term Zane understood. Family to him just meant the people closest to him that would fuck him over the most. He was still running from his family in a way.
He shook his head. “It’s fine,” he said. “I got this.”
Reed looked like he wanted to say more but didn’t. He gave a nod of understanding. “I’ve got a guy coming to fix the window later and another to patch up the holes in the car.”
Zane sighed. He hadn’t even thought about Ellen’s car. It had clearly been through the ringer. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll just leave it here until things settle down if you don’t mind.”
Reed gave another nod.
Shit, even now he couldn’t stop others from getting involved. They were already in more than he wanted, but there wasn’t a choice. The mob was looking for her car, and if it was out of sight, it would be best for everyone.
“Just remember, we’re here if you need us,” Reed said.
Zane nodded. “Thanks.”
He couldn’t retreat fast enough at those words.