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“Will do.”
Markus was gonna hate lying to Brianna, but there was no way he was telling her he was getting on a plane to confront Jake. She would worry too much, and he didn’t want that. If all went well, he’d be home in a couple of days, and he’d tell her then.
As he shook her gently, her eyes fluttered open. His heart ached with love at the sight of her sexy smile.
“Hi, sweetheart. I’m sorry to wake you, but I got a call. I need to fly out for an emergency case tonight. I didn’t want to just leave you a note.”
He hated her look of disappointment. He hated the crush of guilt his lie brought even more. They’d pledged to always tell the truth, and he was breaking that pledge. Markus could tell himself it was for her own good, but it still felt wrong. Just not wrong enough to take it back.
“Oh, honey. I don’t want you to go. Are you sure someone else can’t take the case?” she asked.
“I’m sure. You and Tiff have such busy plans for the next few days, between the prom appointments and the party tomorrow night, that you won’t even miss me. I already have the limo set to pick you both up here at seven tomorrow night. With any luck, I’ll be home in a day or two.”
Brianna was pouting. It was adorable. “But who’s going to take care of me after the party if you aren’t home yet?”
Markus had forgotten about that. “Well, remember. You can look, but no touching tomorrow night. If I’m not back when you get home, I want you to call me. I’ll take care of you over the phone.”
“Phone sex? Really?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“I don’t like it, but okay.” She was already closing her eyes again.
Markus stayed long enough to see her drift off before heading to his closet to throw on clothes and pack a small bag. He stopped to place a quick kiss on her forehead before turning off the bedside lamp and heading to the airport.
Jake Davenport better have fun tonight, because if I get my way, he’ll be behind bars by this time tomorrow.
Chapter Four
Lukus
“Hey man, time to wake up. We’re descending. I want to be the first one off this damn plane.”
Lukus hadn’t slept a wink. He got to the airport last night only to find out that the flight that would get them to California around midnight was overbooked, and no amount of money could buy them even one seat.
He and Markus had taken off from Chicago at just after six this morning, having spent the night sitting up in uncomfortable chairs at the gate, once the last airport bar had closed. They were touching down at eight thirty San Francisco time.
It’d been a long night of worry. Lukus had no clue what he was walking into this morning. He hadn’t been able to get hold of Dylan to pass on their flight information; not on his cell and not even by calling the hotel directly. At first he’d been furious, thinking Dylan had disobeyed orders. As the night wore on, his anger morphed into fear.
Derek is gonna kick my ass if his kid brother gets hurt on my watch, and I don’t blame him. I should have had my ass on a plane days ago.
Lukus headed to the lavatory to splash water on his face. When he got back to his seat, Markus looked ready to sprint from the airplane.
Lukus laid out their contingency plans. “I rented us a car. First thing we need to do is find Dylan. We’ll see if he’s answering his phone, but either way, we’ll head to his hotel. It’s about thirty minutes south, on the way to Palo Alto.”
Markus injected, “I sent an email last night to a district attorney friend of mine from law school. He’s practicing up in Napa County, so he won’t be direct help, but he has more contacts out here than either of us. I’ll check my mail when we land. I’m hoping he can help us make connections when it’s time to involve the police. I want to do things by the book so the prick can’t weasel out of any charges.”
“That’s good. The key, though, is gonna be getting some of these women to press charges. I’m pissed Dylan already made contact with some of them, but in the end, it may work in our favor if he can convince them to go to the police. Between Brianna’s charges and theirs, we should have plenty of evidence to get that prick behind bars.”
“Brianna will never press charges,” Markus said quietly.
Lukus saw red. “That’s total bullshit. I get you may not want her to testify in court, but if you won’t press charges, how the hell am I going to convince other women to come forward?”
Markus looked annoyed. “You don’t understand. It has nothing to do with whether we want to press charges or not. There’s a statute of limitations, and in Illinois rape victims only have three years to report the crime. Sure, they have seven years to bring the prick up on trial, but since Bri missed the three-year limit to report him, it’s too late now.”
“But what about last month? We have it taped. We could...” Lukus shut up at the murderous look on his best friend’s face.
Markus lowered his voice. “Forget the fact I’d never allow the tape of my wife in a hotel room with that asshole brought into court as exhibit A. The recording would only help get him acquitted. She drove herself there. Even after he untied her, she didn’t scream or try to get away from him. You can ask a hundred people and they’ll all say he didn’t rape her that day.”
