“Nothing,” he replied truthfully. He didn’t. Alex just didn’t trust himself around her.
“Then why? Why push her?”
Alex didn’t want to get into it. There was no point. Once he was done helping Nick, he was going back home and never seeing Payton again. “Let it go.”
“You either hate her or want her, so which is it?”
“I’m not good enough for her,” he spat, finally revealing the truth he’d tried to keep buried for years.
“Says who? Her dad? I’m sure he would say otherwise.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He shut Colin out. He’d already revealed too much. He stood up and held his hand out.
Colin looked at his hand then back at him. “This will only work if we do this together. With Payton. No more pushing her away. Agree, or I will carry through on my threat and help her instead of you.” There was a warning in Colin’s gaze.
Alex didn’t like it but finally agreed. Payton needed someone to watch her back. Who better than him? And he’d have Colin to help remind him to keep his distance. It was a win-win for everyone.
Only when he agreed did Colin take his hand and pull himself up. “Now I know why they call you Sledge. You hit like a fucking sledge hammer.” Colin chuckled even as he winced touching a forming bruise on his cheek.
“And don’t you forget it.” Alex chuckled in return.
~
“You failed, again,” his boss growled into the phone.
Jonas tried to play off cool while inside he was quaking. That was twice now he’d failed his boss. “We didn’t know she’d be so well armed.” He thought it would be a piece of cake running her off the road and getting what he needed from her.
Who knew the woman was part Rambo with an arson to back it? He’d almost had it too. He’d been so close; it had been sitting in the front seat. It was Wallace’s fault he’d lost the prize. The man was useless unless it was a fist to fist fight.
“A little woman too much for you to handle.” There was a hint of humor in his boss’s voice Jonas didn’t appreciate. The woman was hardly little. She was six foot and yet appeared so innocent and delicate. He never suspected a tiger lay underneath.
“I wasn’t prepared, but I will be next time.” If his boss gave him another chance. He wasn’t known for his generosity.
“I’ll give you one more chance. Bring me the girl, get the envelope. If you fail again, it will be your last.”
Jonas breathed a sigh of relief. “I won’t let you down, boss.”
“No, Jonas, you won’t.” His boss hung up.
Chapter 12
Payton trudged up the stairs to her apartment on the third floor. It had been a long day with little to show for it. She was no closer to finding her father’s attacker than she had been that morning. After Hank picked her up, she’d gotten a rental car and gone to the lab that was investigating her dad’s car to see if she’d overlooked anything.
After that, she’d checked another address on her list that had been on the opposite side of town. It was an abandoned warehouse. From there, she decided to come home to regroup.
She was missing something; she knew it with every fiber of her being. Payton needed a quiet place to think. She wondered if Colin had had any more luck than she did. She refused to think about Mr. High and Mighty. He would love to know she wasn’t getting anywhere.
Payton cracked her neck side to side and arched her back, trying ease the tension from her sore muscles. It had been a long day, and it was going to become a long night.
Opening her door, Payton paused, cocking her head to the side. She could have sworn she heard footsteps, but now there was nothing. She looked around, but the hallway was empty. Her mind must be playing tricks on her.
She went inside and headed straight for the refrigerator, tossing her things on the floor as she went, and pulled out a beer. Twisting the top off the longneck, she took a hearty swallow, letting the cool liquid quench her parched throat. Ah, that hit the spot.
She peeked through the contents of the fridge thinking she might eat something, but the pickings were slim and nothing appealed to her. She’d have to go shopping tomorrow. Her last case had kept her at the station a lot, and there was a food truck outside the building and nearby restaurants, so she hadn’t lacked for food. Now her fridge was empty and her cupboards most likely bare.
Payton took another swig of her beer heading for the couch so she could go through her notes, when a prickle of awareness caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on end. Something was off in her apartment. She felt like she wasn’t alone, but that was insane. She kept her apartment locked up tight.
Her eye scanned the room as she walked, not letting on to someone in the apartment that she knew they were there. Her muscles bunched and tensed as she sensed danger. It was closer now. She could almost taste it; she definitely smelled it. A cloying sweet musk like cologne.