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Sierra sucked in a breath, then opened her mouth to speak, and he held up his hand. “I’ll tell her Jack is a friend of yours. Someone you hang out with in Evanston. I won’t tell her he’s your brother.”
She stared at him for a long moment, and he saw her calculating the risk. Finally she gave a jerky nod. “Okay. His last name is Cook. Jack Cook.”
Cody snorted. “Cook and Baker? A little too cute.”
“Both common names,” she said with a shrug.
Shaking his head, he said, “Tell me exactly what Jack told you.”
She told him about the guy in the ski mask trying to break into Jack’s apartment and the impenetrable locks. Told him that Jack had seen the intruder on the surveillance cameras he’d set up in his building.
“So this guy took off?” Cody asked.
“Yeah. Jack watched him leave the building.”
Cody thought for a moment. “I think Mel can help with this. Sixty degrees isn’t cold enough for anyone to walk around wearing a ski mask, right? So the would-be intruder would have to take off the ski mask when he left the apartment building. Mel can tap into the surveillance cameras in Evanston and get an image of him. Then she’ll run it through facial recognition software and get a name. You can see if your brother knows the guy.”
Sierra drew a shaky breath. “How long would that take?”
Cody shrugged one shoulder. “Probably no longer than twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Mel would have to hack into Evanston’s system, find the images and download them before she could do the facial recognition thing.”
Sierra bit her lip, but finally said, “Yes, please. See if Mel can do that. Just don’t tell her he’s my brother.”
“I know, Sierra,” he said gently. “I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I keep my promises.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, swallowing. “I believe you. I’m just…”
“Cautious,” Cody said. “I get that. But that brings up a question. What do we do with your brother until Mel comes through with a name and a face?”
Chapter 13
Sierra twisted her fingers together. Squeezed to quell the rising panic. When she noticed Cody watching, she untangled her fingers. Let her hands drop to her sides. “I… I want to go back to Evanston,” she said in a rush. “To make sure Jack’s okay. He’s…” She swallowed. “He’s really focused on his research. When he’s in front of his computers, nothing else exists. The condo could be on fire, but until his clothes started smoking, he wouldn’t notice. I’ll go crazy staying here. I’d be imagining all the horrible things that could happen to him,” she finished in a rush.
Something sharp was digging into her palms. When she looked down, she realized it was her fingernails. She uncurled her fingers slowly. Tried to make it look casual. But Cody was studying her hands. Her face.
“I know you want to make sure he’s okay,” Cody said after a long moment. A flash of pity crossed his face, then disappeared. “But your safety is important, too.You’remy priority. I need to keepyousafe. And I’m not sure Evanston is where I want you to be right now. Especially if someone’s targeting your brother.”
“It can’t be connected to Alex’s problem, because no one knows he’s my brother,” she said. “No one. As far as anyone knows, we’re just friends. Most of my friends and coworkers have never even seen Jack. We usually spend time at his place or mine. Rarely go anywhere else.”
Cody nodded slowly. “That’s all well and good. But Evanston was where the suspicious police officer pulled you over. Where someone followed us as we left town.”
“And the Russians showed up at this farm,” she shot back. “So which place is safer?”
Cody closed his eyes, and she could see the effort he made not to snap at her. Tell herhewas the security expert; he was in charge, and they were doing this his way.
Finally he opened his eyes. Studied her for a long moment. “You’re right,” he finally said, surprising her. “That’s a good point. This farm is no longer safe for us. I think Mel’s assessment -- twenty-four hours of wiggle room, give or take -- is probably correct.” He smiled, and his eyes softened. Like he and Mel had a history. “She usually is.
“In favor of staying here?” he continued. “The Bratva has to be scrambling. They’re using most of their resources to protect their FBI assets and figure out what happened to the two guys they sent here. But they damn well haven’t forgotten about you, Sierra. That’s not the Bratva way.
“In favor of leaving? Sooner or later, they’ll be back. And it won’t be two guys next time. It’ll be four or five. I made the first guys look bad, and they don’t forget stuff like that. They’ll come after us again. They don’t give up.”
“So which side do you come down on? Leaving today for Evanston? Or staying here?” The fist in her chest tightened as she watched his eyes. She couldn’t read a thing in his expression.
He jumped up from his chair and paced the kitchen. Poured himself another cup of coffee, and his hand didn’t shake at all. Somehow, that reassured her. If he wasn’t nervous, maybe she didn’t need to be, either.
“I need to talk to Jason and Laila before we make a decision,” he finally said. “Make sure they can get back here in time to take care of the animals tomorrow. Number one rule on a farm? The animals come first. The cattle would be okay in the pasture, but the pigs and chickens can’t feed or water themselves. Someone has to be here to do it for them.”
“Okay.” She shoved her shaking hands into her pockets when she noticed Cody staring at them. “That’s fair. I’ll… I’ll go get packed. Try to get some work done.”
