TWENTY-SEVEN
Ren paced the cell, unable to sleep or sit or do much of anything but walk and stress. They hadn’t told him anything. He had no idea if Cora was okay, and Hayes had been taken to a different part of the station. The not knowing was going to kill him. If someone would just tell him that Cora was okay, he could at least breathe. Ren had called their lawyer, hoping that Jim could get him some information, but he’d had to leave a message.
A cop came down the hallway, a bored look on his face. “Muroya, you have a visitor.”
“Thank Christ,” Ren muttered, raking a hand through his hair. At least if he had a lawyer here, he had a chance at getting news or getting the hell out of this place.
“Turn your back to the door so I can cuff you.”
Ren did as he was told and then the deputy let him out of the holding cell. He directed him to walk a little ahead of him and guided Ren down the hallway and into the main part of the station.
The cop cleared his throat before they got to the visitation room. “You’re only going to have a few minutes. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m only going to have a few minutes with my lawyer?” Ren asked. “The hell I am. It’s my right to meet with counsel.”
The cop smirked. “This isn’t counsel. And I’m not losing my job over this. So be quick. Got me?”
“What?”
But Ren didn’t have to ask again because when the cop swung open the door, Ren found Cora sitting at the table inside. She looked up, face drawn and pale, hair gathered in a haphazard ponytail, and a haunted look in her eyes.
“Benning.” All the air whooshed out of him and he nearly dropped to his knees. “Thank you, God.”
Ren wanted to rush to her, to hug her, to feel for himself that she was okay, but when he jerked his arms forward, the cuffs reminded him where he was. He took a breath, trying to calm himself.
“Go on.” The cop let him step inside and then shut the door behind Ren.
Cora’s gaze slid to his arms, registering the cuffs, and she winced. “Does he have to wear those?”
A voice from the corner of the room answered. “I’m trying to stick as close to protocol as I can, Junior. Plus, Muroya’s put enough people in cuffs. He can handle wearing them for a few minutes.”
Ren’s gaze hopped to where the voice had come from. Andre Medina stood there in a suit, arms crossed, badge on his hip, and expression serious.
He gave Ren a little nod. “You have a few minutes. If her mother found out I let you two talk, she’d have my job.”
“Her mother?” Ren asked.
“The police captain,” Cora said grimly. “She’s my mom.”
Ren stared at her. “Janet Benning is your— The one who helped put Hayes away?”
“The very one, unfortunately.”
“I— Why didn’t you say something? Jesus. If Hayes knew . . .”
He would’ve freaked the fuck out. He would’ve assumed Cora was some kind of trap for him.
“I didn’t know how to bring it up, and it’s not time to focus on that now. If we don’t get something done quickly, she’s going to be the one putting you both away this time.” She nodded at the chair across from her. “Please, Ren, we’ve only got a few minutes.”
He slid into the chair awkwardly, the cuffs making everything more difficult. “First, tell me you’re okay. They couldn’t get you to wake up. They kept calling your name. I was so fucking terrified. I didn’t know . . .”
Her businesslike expression faltered for a second and she reached out, flattening her hand between them even though Ren couldn’t reach out to touch her, and met his gaze. “I’m okay. I feel like I’ve been hit in the head with a two-by-four, and I can’t remember a big chunk of last night, but I’m all right. Rohypnol packs a punch.”
His stomach clenched. “Cora, you have to know that we never would’ve put anything in your drink. I—”
She lifted her hand. “Please, don’t even. Seriously. I remember enough to know that I wanted to be there with you two. I know neither of you would ever hurt me. But I was drugged. And there’s a picture of Hayes handing me the drink. The cops have the cup with traces of the drug. Do you remember anything about the Coke he gave me?”
Ren looked down at the table, trying to remember how everything played out at the bar. “It’s got to be the soda we left with. Hayes got it from the bar right before we were leaving.”
She nodded. “I remember that much, too. But I don’t remember how much I drank. I Googled the drug that was used on me. It’s quick-acting. Half an hour and it starts taking effect. That would’ve been right in the middle of everything. Did you notice me getting drunk at any point after we left? I know I was sober when we headed to your house.”
He frowned. “No, I don’t think you drank much from what I remember. We talked in the car on the way home. You may have taken a sip or two but when I brought the drink inside for you, it was still pretty full. I remember having to hand it off to Hayes because I almost spilled it. But I don’t know where it ended up after that. But you weren’t acting funny or drunk. Once we were home, you were talking and present and steady on your feet. Well, until”—he glanced at Andre, who was studiously focusing on his phone—“until you were, you know, off your feet.”
Cora’s cheeks went pink. “You didn’t hear that, Medina.”
“No hablo ingles,” Medina said without looking up.
Cora sniffed. “And after that, nothing weird? I can remember some of what we did, but things get fuzzy halfway through.”
Ren shook his head. “We showered and you were fine. We went to bed. That’s the last I remember before the cops banged on the door.”
She stared down at her hands, forehead wrinkled. “I had to have drank more afterward. Got up or something. That’s the only thing that makes sense. But I guess that really doesn’t matter at this point.” She looked up, her jaw set. “What matters is that someone drugged my drink and someone called in a false tip. I have a feeling—”
“It’s the same goddamned person.”
“Exactly,” she said, her fist curling against the table. “We dragged Hayes out, and the motherfucker jumped on the chance. He had to have followed us there and waited for an opportunity. Who the fuck carries roofies on them just in case the opportunity comes up?”
“You’d be surprised,” Andre said without looking up.
“Either way, it’s got to be our guy. My mom slipped up and told me the caller was a man. But she wouldn’t tell me anything else. I doubt she knows much more than that.” She rubbed her lips together. “There were so many people there last night, but do you remember seeing anyone you knew? Anything strange?”
Ren sagged forward in the seat, his head hurting. He played the night through his head. He’d been having so much fun that all he’d really focused on was Cora and Hayes. It’d been the perfect night—two people he cared about, dancing and laughing and singing . . .
He straightened.
“What?” Cora said, picking up on his shift in demeanor. “You saw something?”
Ren glanced up, his heartbeat speeding up. “After we sang on stage, I was looking out into the crowd and there were so many faces out in the audience. But for a second, I thought I saw a familiar face. It was in my periphery and I just caught a glimpse. When I looked again, the guy had disappeared into the crowd. I figured I’d imagined it.”
Cora’s hands pressed flat against the table and even Andre was looking their way now. “Who, Ren?”
Ren swallowed hard. “Gordon. For a second I thought I saw Gordon.”
Her face went slack. “The guy you ran away with?”
“Yes, but I’ve thought I’ve seen him before. It used to happen all the time after I came back home. My psychologist at the time said it was post-traumatic stress. I was seeing his face in strangers. I thought it was the same thing last night. He didn’t even have the same hair color. The lights on stage were in my eyes. I just dismissed it.”
Cora’s eyes had gone big. “He could be the one. It makes sense.”
Ren frowned. “But it doesn’t. All of this shit has been directed at Hayes. Hayes is the one who went to prison. If Gordon was still holding some crazy grudge over me leaving him all those years ago, he’d come after me. Hurt me. It’s not like I’m hard to find. And it would’ve been so much easier to frame me. I’m way more reckless than Hayes has ever been.”
Cora leaned forward on her elbows, her gaze burning into him. “Not necessarily. Think about it. There’s something more devastating than being hurt. What hurts worse than that?”
A pit settled in his stomach, the realization rocking through him. The words whispered out of him. “Watching the person you love the most get hurt instead.”
“Yes.”
Ren couldn’t even wrap his head around that, but as he said it, the truth resonated through him. He’d briefly considered Gordon when everything had started. His mind naturally went there. But he’d dismissed him just as quickly because Gordon hadn’t even known Hayes. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to target Hayes.
But now Ren knew more. Gordon hadn’t just met Hayes. He’d been threatened by him all those years ago. Hayes had put a gun to his head. And Gordon would not be a man to take that lightly. His pride was everything to him. Respect required or pay the price. Ren had paid the price many times when he’d lived with Gordon. Maybe he was still paying it.
No, maybe Hayes had paid it on Ren’s behalf.
The thought made him go cold inside. If Hayes had gone to prison all those years because of Ren’s stupid mistakes when he was a kid . . . If he’d suffered because . . .
He didn’t even know how to deal with that.
“Ren,” Cora said, breaking him from his sinking thoughts. “We don’t have much time. I need you to tell me everything you know about Gordon right now. Every detail that can help me track him down.”
Ren’s head snapped up at that. “Track him down? The hell you will. There’s no way I’m letting you go anywhere near that guy, even virtually. You’ve already paid enough of a price for this. If it’s him, he’d hurt you now, too. Because of me. He’ll have been watching. He’ll know you mean something to me.”
Something flickered in her gaze. “Ren . . .”
“No, I’m not going to let you put yourself at risk. Fuck that. Andre, don’t you dare let her go after this guy.”
Andre frowned and glanced at Cora.
“The police aren’t going to help you with this,” she said, a ferocity to her expression. “I can. And I know how to be careful. I’m not going to show up on his doorstep. I know how to cover my tracks.”
“Benning—” The word was a plea.
She stood. “I’m tired of people telling me what I can and can’t do. I’m good at this. And I’m not that fragile. I’m not incapable of protecting myself or being careful.”
“I didn’t say—”
She stepped around the table and stood in front of him, arms crossed. “Plus, in case you haven’t noticed, I might kind of care about you, too. And this whole thing could be kind of amazing if we have a chance.”
His chest squeezed tight.
“And I have no idea how y’all feel about me, but there it is. Cora unfiltered. So I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and let some psycho stalker with a God complex fuck up my chance to see where this goes with you two. I’ve had enough dating tragedies. Having the two guys I like end up in jail is not an option. Plus, if my ass was sitting in here, I’d expect you two to do everything you could to get me out. So don’t expect less from me. Got it?”
Andre’s eyebrows shot up behind her.
Ren stood, wishing he could reach out to her, pull her to him. He knew how much that must’ve cost her to lay her feelings out like that. But he couldn’t get past the idea of her going anywhere near Gordon. “Please. It’s not that I expect less of you. I’ll go nuts in here knowing you’re out there poking at Gordon. He’s dangerous. This just proves how much. I can get a private investigator again now that I know where to point him. I’ve already lost Hayes once. I just got him back and I’ve just found you. I can’t handle it if either of you end up hurt in all this, especially because of me.”
She leaned forward, cupped the back of his head, and kissed him. “You were a kid, Ren. This is not your fault. And if I can’t get enough on him, you can call your PI. But for right now, I’m all you’ve got. A pissed-off hacker girl.”
“And I’ll watch her back,” Andre added.
Cora peered over her shoulder, no doubt giving Andre a petulant look. “I’m not going in guns a-blazing, Medina.”
Andre shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to look out for you. Ren’s right. I don’t know who this guy is that you’re talking about. But if he’s capable of framing someone not just once but twice and drugging the police captain’s daughter, the guy’s fearless and on a mission. And he’s smart enough to have protected himself well for this long. You don’t know how far he’ll go.” He looked to Ren. “If he’s into hurting people Ren cares about, you fit the bill and could be next on the list.”
Ren’s jaw clenched. He wished he could grab Cora and drag her back to the cell with him. At least then he’d be assured she was safe.
But when she turned around, he could tell by the set of her stance that there was no chasing her off this hunt. She would do it whether he asked her to stop or not. So when she pulled a notepad out of her purse and sat down again, he answered her questions about Gordon.
And when she left, he let his head lower to the table and banged it there.
Andre’s hand landed on Ren’s shoulder. “I’m going to ask Grant if we can borrow some of his private security from The Ranch. I’ll put a detail on her and make sure someone is outside her house. She’ll never be out of sight.”
Ren looked up and let out a breath. “Thanks, man.”
Andre smiled, though it held no humor. “Of course. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.” He tilted his head. “Speaking of which, while I have you in handcuffs and locked in a room, what are your intentions with her?”
Ren frowned. “My intentions?”
Andre sat on the edge of the table, looking every bit the intimidating detective in his suit and tie. “I’ve known Cora since she was a teenager. She’s like the kid sister of the station. And I’ve known you and Hayes long enough to know that you two have always been one-and-done players at The Ranch. That’s your business. I’m not judging. But I saw how that woman just looked at you. She cares about the both of you enough to go on a crusade to clear your names. When Cora puts her heart into something, it’s all the way. She comes across as tough, and in a lot of ways, she is. But I’ve seen guys use her before. She’s been hurt. So if you’re planning to be one-and-done with her, tell her now. She deserves that.”
One-and-done? Moving on? That had always been the plan in the past. A little kink. A little fun. No big deal. This didn’t feel like no big deal.
Ren stared at him and then sighed. “Honestly, I have no idea where the hell my head is at. I’ve only known her for a few weeks. And I originally planned for it just to be some fun between friends. But she’s, I don’t know . . . She’s so . . . And last night . . . and . . . Fuck.”
Andre’s mouth curled into a smile and he patted Ren on the shoulder. “That’s all I needed to know, brother.”
“What?”
Andre shook his head, amusement in his eyes. “Come on, let’s get you back to your cell before my boss finds out I’m breaking ten kinds of protocol. I’d like to keep my job.”
Ren stood. “Why’d you do this, then?”
He walked Ren to the door. “Because your girlfriend is damn persuasive.”
My girlfriend.
For the first time in his life, he didn’t want to run at the sound of that.
It sounded . . . right.
But now he was going to have to go back to a cage and pull his hair out while his girlfriend went after the man who had tried to tear his life apart.