Chapter Seventeen

Teagan

I WAS SITTING on the sofa in the great room, chatting with Dani when her face suddenly dropped. "Uh oh."

"What's wrong?" I asked, turning my head in the direction she was looking.

Cash looked pissed and he was storming toward us. "Need you to come with me."

"That tone better not be for me," I warned.

"Teagan—"

"Cash, seriously, I'm in no mood to deal with your shit," I bit out. "Take it down a notch. Actually, take it down twelve."

Dani tried to hide a smile behind her hand as she dropped her head and took a sip of wine.

"I'm sorry." Cash sighed. "Just need to talk to you for a second."

"That's better." I set my glass on the table and stood. "I go where you go."

He took my hand and led me down the hall and into the bunkroom, closing the door behind us.

"What's going on, honey? You look like you're about to remove a spleen." I crossed my arms. "Which is my job. You know, ye olde spleen removal department."

He smirked, dragging his hands through his hair.

"Cash, seriously, what's going on?"

"Apparently, the Spiders are comin' for us."

I gasped. "What?"

"Hatch and Dad didn't say that outright, but a Spider was doin' some shady shit to your car, so it can only mean that they're comin'."

"Okay, what do Hatch and Booker want us to do?"

"Hatch wants us here, or Dad said we can stay with them."

"Wait. You can't go home?"

"No. It's not safe," he said. "Archer and I need to bunk down here for a while."

"Okay, so my options are to stay here with you, or at your parents, or be at home, right?"

"Yeah."

"You can be at all those places, too."

He scoffed. "No way in hell Mack's gonna let me sleep in your bed, Turtle."

"Oh, right." I wrinkled my nose. "You might have a point."

"But you can't have your car for a while. We don't know what this asshole did to it, so we've gotta pull it apart and inspect it."

I sighed. "So, for work purposes, it would be better to stay here. No commute."

"Yeah."

"But where are we going to sleep?" I asked. "We don't really have our own space."

"Well, then, Hatch'll need to sort that out. If he doesn't, we'll take advantage of your spleen removal services."

I was done not touching him, so I closed the distance between us. "Okay, now, why are you really so amped?"

"That's not enough of a reason?"

"Cash, you stormed out of that room, tied up in knots. It's not about keeping me safe, because I'm safe and sound right now, right here, and nothing's going to change. What's really going on?"

"I don't fuckin' know and Hatch and Dad aren't sharin'. But I can guess."

"Okay, what's your guess?"

He palmed his eye sockets. "That I led them straight to you."

"How'd you do that, exactly?"

"It's gotta be Justin," he said.

"Hooks?"

He nodded. "I should have been more careful."

"What do Hatch and Booker say?"

"Not much. Which is the problem."

"Do you really think this guy runs with the Spiders?"

"I didn't, but now I'm not so sure," he admitted.

"Cash, you are the best judge of character I know. If you didn't think he was affiliated, then he wasn't." I sighed. "Why do you constantly doubt yourself?"

He let out a quiet grunt, but I didn't get any further explanation as I slid my arms under his cut and up his back, kissing his chest. "Maybe they're not entirely sure what the fuck's going on and don't want to rile you up. You do tend to overreact on occasion."

"Teagan," he growled.

"Yes, love of my life?"

"Why the fuck are you so calm?"

"Because you're losing your shit," I said. "Can't have both of us doing that, especially when there's no reason to. Not yet, anyway." I met his eyes. "We're here, we're safe, we've got booze, and each other. What more do we need?"

His mouth landed on mine, and I was gently pushed against the wall as his hand slid under my shirt, tugging down my bra. His tongue slipped between my lips as he rolled a nipple between his fingers and I arched into his touch, moaning into this mouth, gripping his cut as he kissed me.

Before we could go any further, however, someone banged on the door.

"Goddammit," Cash growled, fixing my shirt, as he dropped his forehead to mine. "What?"

"Found something!" Booker called. "Meet me in Hatch's office."

"Deep breaths." I stroked his cheek. "We'll finish this later."

He nodded, closing his eyes and breathing slow and steady. "Jesus, you make me rock hard."

"I know. That's my job." I smiled. "Well, when I'm not removing spleens."

He kissed me gently, then once more before walking out the door.

* * *

Cash

I walked into Dad's office and found him sitting behind his laptop, furiously typing away. He waved me over and I huddled behind him as he entered in a series of numbers and code. It was all Greek to me, but Dad's fingers flew over the keyboard as he attempted to gain access to a secured server or something or other. "Where's Hatch?" I asked.

"Making some calls."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"I'm trying to hack into the Spiders' system," Dad said. "The problem is Rail's got safeguards so what I thought I found was a ruse. Right now, I'm trying not to set off his alarms."

"I thought you could get around anything," I taunted.

"I can, but I don't want him to know I'm looking," Dad said. "He's got booby traps everywhere."

"Does it matter if he knows?"

"Yeah, bud, it matters. We don't want them to know we know anything." He swore. "What I need is Claude."

"Who the fuck's Claude?"

"Not who, what. It's an Invisible Man program Ducky wrote that will allow me to snoop around undetected. She named it after Claude Rains, the actor who played the part in the original show back in the 1930s," he explained. "You know how much she loves old movies," he said, just as my mother walked in, Teagan hot on her heels.

"What the hell is this business about someone fucking with Teagan's car?" Mom demanded.

"Jesus, fuck," Dad hissed.

"Sorry," Teagan rushed out.

"Don't apologize, honey, these men know exactly how difficult it is to keep anything from me."

"Dani, you need to stay out of this," Dad said.

"Like you wanted me to stay out of the bullshit with Lucian Harwell?"

"Danielle, leave it alone," Dad growled.

"What's goin' on?" I demanded.

"Who's Lucian Harwell?" Teagan asked.

"He's the guy who murdered Chelsea," I said.

"You both need to leave it the fuck alone," Dad said.

"Well, I'm sure as hell not leaving anything the fuck alone." I scowled. "But why does Mom need to?"

"I need to grab a different laptop," Dad said, rising to his feet. "It's got Ducky's program on it." He walked around his desk and made his way to my mom, sliding an arm around her waist. "You need to drop this, Dani. Seriously."

Her eyes narrowed and I could tell she was having some kind of silent conversation with him, but in the end, she sighed, then nodded. He gave her a squeeze and kissed her forehead before walking out the door.

"Mom, what's going on?" I asked (again).

She bit her lip, glanced at Teagan then back at me before letting out a long, exaggerated breath. "Teagan, honey, can you give me and Cash a minute, please?"

Teagan hesitated, worry written in the tight lines of her face, but I gave her what I hoped was an encouraging smile and she walked out the door.

Mom dragged the chairs next to Dad's desk, so they were facing each other and waved to one. "Have a seat, baby."

I lowered myself into one of the chairs and Mom did the same. She fidgeted with the hem of her T-shirt, so much so, I reached out and took her hands. "Mama, what's going on?"

"I have something to tell you, and it's not good."

"Jesus, what?"

"I honestly thought I was going to take this to my grave but I think you should know everything."

"Okay," I said, quietly. Carefully.

"You know how you have a tendency to take the world on your shoulders?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

She met my eyes. "I know you worried you didn't do enough to protect Chelsea."

"It's not just that, I hate that you know about what we did to Eric. I hate that you know that I'm capable of hurting somebody like that, you know? To that level?"

She swallowed. "That's why I think it's important that you know what I'm about to tell you."

"What do you mean?"

"You and I are more alike than you think. I tend to feel responsible for people as well and I take a lot of that on because I was victimized as a young woman and your dad got me out of a very bad situation when we first met. I swore I'd never let that happen to me again, or anyone I loved."

I squeezed her hands as tears slid down her cheeks.

"When Chelsea was raped, I was shattered. She was my heart, along with yours. She was in my kindergarten class for god's sake. I felt like she was one of my own, you know?"

"Yeah, Mama, I know."

"So, when this asshole followed her and took her from us, I was beyond pissed. Life in prison wasn't enough. He needed to hurt." She looked at me again. "So I made sure he hurt."

"What?"

"I have a few connections of my own, baby. Kids who've been caught in the system. Kids who I've helped over the years. Some who are on the right side of the law and some who aren't. The right word here, a small exchange of money there, or a favor perhaps, meant a guard looked the other way while Lucian was beaten and shanked to death. A man died because of my actions."

"Holy fuckin' shit, Mama, you did that?"

"I did that."

"And Dad sanctioned it?"

"Dad didn't know." She sighed. "Until after the fact. To say he was beyond pissed was an understatement, but I had to tell him, because he's my ride or die. My absolute everything, but it was also the right thing to do in case of blowback."

"Was there blowback?"

"No. My people are my people. They're loyal. And I'm generous."

"Jesus, Mom, you sound like the Godfather."

"Call me Godmother," she said, puffing out her cheeks. "I could totally run a syndicate." She gave a little shrug and smirked. "No one would ever see me coming."

"Do you feel guilty?" I asked.

"No, I feel justice was finally served." She cocked her head. "If that animal had a soul, it belonged to the devil already. And if there is a god and he doesn't let me into heaven because of what I did, then he can kiss his own judgmental ass, because he's going to have to answer for why he let a beautiful soul like Chelsea's be taken by a monster like Lucian. The way I see it, me and the big man are even. Does this make you think of me differently?"

"Of course not."

"Then never worry about what others may think of you when it comes to protecting the people you love."

I stood and pulled her into my arms. "I'm lucky to have you as my mother."

"Damn right you are." She squeezed me tight. "You are free to tell Teagan about this, or I can talk to her myself, but she has to know she cannot tell anyone."

"I'll tell her," I said. "I'll find the right time."

"Okay, baby. I'll let you do that," she said as Dad walked back in.

"Coast clear?" he asked.

"Yes, honey, the coast is clear," Mom said.

Dad leaned out his office door and bellowed, "Teagan, come on back, baby girl."

Teagan walked back in while Dad sat back at his desk and opened a second laptop. Teagan walked into my open arms, and I wrapped her up tight, kissing her temple.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, baby, all good."

"This is gonna take a little while." Dad glanced up at us. "And I don't need any of you for it, so if you wanna go take a break, you can. I'll let you know what I find."

"I'm going to stay with your dad," Mom said. "You kids go find something fun to do. Maisie had a couple of the prospects clean out a room for you upstairs. It's the one at the end of the hall. It has a bathroom and a bed. I changed the sheets this morning, so it's clean. We can sort out getting something a little nicer in there, but it'll work for now."

"Thanks, Dani," Teagan said.

"Give us at least half an hour," I said.

"Cash," Teagan admonished, her face blushing beet red. "Oh my god."

I grinned, taking her hand. "Make that forty-five minutes."

"I'm going to kill you," she threatened as I pulled her out of the room and up the stairs.

"You'll be too busy," I said.

I pushed open the door and guided her inside, locking the door once we were behind it. I didn't take any time to look at the room, just pulled Teagan close and kissed her, pushing her gently onto the bed and working to divest her of her clothing.