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Gabriel had been correct. Between the announcement that she wasn’t Maddox’s mistress and the FAA ruling the crash pilot error, she and Gabriel weren’t much of a story anymore. She breathed a little easier as Dax pulled away from the curb.
Then she noticed someone had raised the partition between them and the driver. It made the big, beautiful stretch limo feel very intimate. She was alone with Gabriel—and so aware of him watching her intently.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice not quite steady.
He stared at her from across the seat, his brilliant blue eyes threatening to pierce her. A sexy five-o’clock shadow clung to his jawline. “You and I should talk.”
Gabriel was right, but she didn’t want to discuss the subject most likely on his mind. “I don’t know. The man I talked to this afternoon said I shouldn’t trust you because you’ll side with your friends when all of this shakes out.”
He sat up straight, his expression turning serious. “We’re on the same side. So what is that supposed to mean?”
At least he wasn’t looking at her like she was a little bunny he was about to eat in the sweetest of ways. “You tell me.”
“Baby, I don’t even know what this asshole told you. Apparently nothing good about me. How does he know anything at all? How do we know he’s not some reporter?”
She’d asked the same questions herself. “He asked if we’d found the pictures of the girls inside the lockbox in the hidden room.”
That shook him. “How did he even know we found a hidden room or the lockbox, much less what was inside?”
“I have no idea.”
He blew out a breath. “Mad had cameras installed throughout the house. For . . . security.” Something about the way he said security gave her pause. “I assumed they were destroyed in the fire, but maybe not.”
“Security, huh? More likely Maddox had cameras around the house so he could make sex tapes.” She knew her brother. He’d been a great friend to her and a complete pervert to all other females.
Gabriel’s lips curled up slightly. “Fine. He might not have always used them for security. But I can’t think of any other way this guy knows about that room or the lockbox. But how could he have been in the house with us?”
This was her area of expertise. Back in college, she’d managed to catch the school streaker by hacking the security cams of her dorm. She hadn’t turned him in or anything. She’d just wanted to prove she could do it. The dude had been surprisingly well hung, and after a while, everyone looked forward to his monthly runs.
“He didn’t have to be in the house with us. If he remotely stole the feed, he could have watched us. He could have been watching us the whole time.”
His furious expression told her he didn’t like that thought. Truth told, Everly didn’t like it, either.
“But that doesn’t explain how he knew about the pictures inside the lockbox,” she pointed out. “We didn’t open the box at Maddox’s place.”
He leaned over and checked the small control panel on his side of the limo, ensuring Dax couldn’t hear him. “The only other way your guy could know is if he’s talking to Dax, Connor, or Roman. But I don’t believe any of them would betray us.”
She didn’t, either, but was surprised he’d considered his friends as suspects for even a moment.
“Unless my informant has been watching Maddox’s ‘security’ feed for days or weeks and saw him load the box.”
“And why would he do that unless this guy’s interest in Mad preceded his death?” Gabriel cocked his head, leveling her with a stare rife with suspicion. “Unless your informant was involved.”
Everly saw his point, that maybe her mystery informant hadn’t just been a spectator in Maddox’s murder, but she saw another possible angle. “Maddox was a subject of interest in life, too. Maybe this guy had been monitoring him for potential tabloid/sex tape fodder and simply kept watching the feed to see what happened in his murder investigation.”
Gabe froze, then blew out a breath. “Any idea who this guy is?”
“No, but he knows plenty. He claims he sent me some information that might help me understand Mad’s murder. So far, all I’ve received from him is one e-mail and a couple of cryptic texts. He claims he sent me some information. He called it data, but I haven’t gotten anything like that. I did have someone send me a camera, but it’s got pictures on it, not data. I downloaded some of the pictures off it before my laptop crapped out on me. If you had let me go get the damn thing, I could load the pics on Connor’s computer.”
Gabriel sighed. “I’m sorry. I was trying to protect you. I promise we’ll get them first thing in the morning. Valerie won’t break into your office from jail. Now explain this to me.”
Valerie being in custody was the only reason she hadn’t stormed back up and gathered her evidence. “It looks like someone was watching me and Maddox before his death and sent me a camera with a memory card inside. That memory card contained photos.” She held a hand up because Gabe looked ready to blow. “I’ll remote access my system tonight and let you view the pictures I was able to download. I promise. Tomorrow we can look at the rest. Take a deep breath.”
Gabriel squared his shoulders, and they seemed to grow broader. She was starting to pick up on all the signs that he was angry or concerned. “He took pictures of you before Mad died?”
Yep, he was going to flip out. “I think he knows a lot about me. Really, about everything. He said there’s more to Maddox’s death than we’re seeing. Far more. I got the idea that he meant that whatever’s happening went beyond a murder. He mentioned the name Sergei. We’re supposed to find someone with that name.”
He ground his teeth together. “The day he died, Mad asked me about a Sergei, but I don’t know one. Did your mystery informant say how we’re supposed to find him?”
“Not we. Me. I’m supposed to find Sergei alone. The informant said I couldn’t trust you.” But she felt as if she could. Or was that simply because she really wanted to believe her heart wouldn’t lead her so astray?
“I swear to god when we figure everything out, I’m going to beat the shit out of this Sergei guy—and your cloak-and-dagger informant.”
That probably wasn’t such a great idea. “I suspect we’re looking for a man with ties to the Russian mafia. I wonder if he has anything to do with that other woman Maddox was trying to find. Natalia, wasn’t it?” The connection had been playing around in her head all morning. “I want to hire an investigator to find her.”
“The last one died under questionable circumstances, Everly.” Gabriel turned stern. “You’re out of this. Now that Valerie’s been caught, your part in all of this is over.”
“No.” She shook her head emphatically. “I’m the one this mystery man is willing to talk to. He suggested I make contact with Lara Armstrong, whoever that is. I’m going to do that and start feeling out what she knows.”
He’d gone a nice shade of pale. “Absolutely not. She’s the one running Capitol Scandals. Connor will handle her.”
Yeah, with the finesse of a sledgehammer—kind of like Gabriel now. “Be reasonable about this. I want to find out who killed my brother. I get it. You didn’t like the whole me-nearly-getting-flattened thing, but you need me.”
“I know how competent you are, but you’re still out. I can’t risk you again. God, I know you’re going to hate me, but I won’t let you put your life on the line.”
Did he really mean what he was saying? He looked terrified and resolute at the same time. Was he really so afraid he might lose her? How did she deal with that? Stomping her foot and screaming hadn’t gotten them anywhere. “Gabriel, you can’t put me in a box. I know that seems like the safe thing to do, but it won’t work. You say you want me.”
“I do. God, I do.”
“But you don’t want me the way I am because I’m not the woman who can walk away from this investigation.”
Frustration melded with worry in his tight expression as he s
urged into her personal space. “Damn it, Everly. I didn’t want our conversation to go this way.”
Being so close to him made her heart trip. Sorrow threatened to shred her because they were still so far apart. “You want some sweet little thing who will do whatever you tell her. Who will let you put her in a nice cage, and I’m sure there are plenty of women in this city who would be more than happy to do your bidding and never question you once. I hope you find her because I’m not that girl.”
“I don’t want them.” He grabbed her shoulders, his stare pinning her to the seat, his intent plain. “I want you.”
“I don’t think you really do or you wouldn’t ask me to give up.” Tears threatened. “Maybe it’s time to admit we threw ourselves into this without thinking.”
His eyes heated as he leaned forward. “I’m only trying to protect you.”
“That’s what I’m trying to make you understand. I don’t want to be protected. I want to be your partner. If you knew me at all you would know that if you cut me off, I’ll conduct my own investigation. I’ll do it even if you fire me.”
“You have no idea what I can do when I put my mind to it, baby. If I want you under house arrest, you’ll find yourself locked down twenty-four seven.”
A little zip of fear went through her because he sounded serious. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I wouldn’t take that bet if I were you.” He moved into her space, forcing her to shift toward the door. “If I give him the word, Dax will take us out of the city, and you’ll find yourself in a safe house with four bodyguards paid not to listen to reason. They won’t let you slip away. They’ll keep you there until I say you can go.”
