“Trip was fine. I’m just glad you met someone normal.”
“You spent maybe ten minutes with her.”
“Yeah and I can already tell she’s a hundred times sweeter and saner than that bitch—”
“Logan.” Roman didn’t want to talk about his ex. Didn’t want to think about her. Not because he was still hung up on her, he just didn’t want to compare Taylor to Justina.
It felt wrong on too many levels. Mainly because it reminded him what an idiot he’d been. And the two women were in completely different leagues. Taylor was…fucking amazing. She was beautiful, yeah, but she’d held up well under some shitty circumstances. Not only that, but she was a fighter. Her determination to bring down the man who’d killed her friend was impressive. Not once had she complained about her circumstances.
His brother shrugged again. “All I’m saying is, I like Taylor.”
“Yeah, me too.” Probably too much. Now he needed to get his game face on and get her to the police station. So far it seemed as if the evidence was backing up her story—and he believed her anyway, her grief over Hugh was too damn real—but there was still a threat out there. Whoever had shot at him yesterday had likely been there for her.
Just because the Oceanside PD was going to bring Neal Lynch in didn’t mean that whoever had come after Taylor would stop gunning for her. If that bastard Neal had sent someone after her, they might not stop until she was silenced.
That was happening over his dead body.
Chapter 7
Neal groaned as the sound of a phone ringing cut through the quiet room. He recognized the ringtone, otherwise he’d have ignored it. Opening his eyes, he looked over at the naked woman in his bed. Sunlight from a couple open blinds streamed through, highlighting her face. Her body was perfectly toned but she had more wrinkles around her mouth and eyes than he remembered last night when he’d picked her up. But he’d needed some quick stress relief and she’d been cheaper than buying a professional for the evening. All he’d had to do was buy her a few drinks.
Ignoring her presence, he grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and answered it. She didn’t even stir as he left the room. “Yeah?” His voice was hoarse and raspy. Probably shouldn’t have drank so much last night. Or done those lines of coke. But the woman had had extra, what was he going to say, no?
“Get out of your place now.” His contact’s voice was urgent.
“What, why?”
“Uniforms are headed to pick you up for more questioning. Not sure why exactly but something is going down.”
Panic detonated inside his chest, making it hard to breathe for a moment. “Your contact told you? Does he know you’re warning me?”
The man snorted. “Hell no, he doesn’t know. We were talking shop and about Taylor coming back to town to talk to the police. I made it sound like everyone at the office was worried about her—which they actually are.”
He leaned against the wall outside his bedroom, his knees weak. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah, it sounds like they’ve got some evidence that’s going to clear her and implicate you. Get out now because if they bring you in…”
He wasn’t ever getting out. That was the unspoken message. One he received loud and clear. “I’ll be gone in less than two minutes. I’ll contact you when I’m somewhere secure.” He knew exactly where he was going but he sure as hell wasn’t telling anyone else. Everyone could be bought or pressured.
“What do you want me to do about her? I’m still in Vegas and haven’t been able to find her. I know she was in the hospital briefly, but I have no idea where she went when she left.”
“Why was she in the hospital?” That didn’t make sense unless he actually had winged her or maybe even shot her. But if he had, that had been a long damn time for her to wait to go to the hospital. He shouldn’t have done that coke yesterday, but he’d needed it. It made everything in his life seem manageable. Damn it, had he missed something in the elevator?
“Don’t know. Couldn’t find out anything either.”
Damn it. He hurried back into his room, still on his phone as he headed to his walk-in closet. The woman on the bed didn’t stir. If he couldn’t see the rise and fall of her chest he’d have thought she was dead. “And you haven’t been able to track her through credit cards?”
The man snorted. “We wouldn’t be having this conversation if I had. She’s not using anything. And she’s got backup of sorts. Not sure if it’s that Vadim guy but whoever was at that house has some sort of training.”