Ultimate Courage (True Heroes #2)(39)

Son of a bitch. Even if her ex didn’t have influence at the police department she’d gone to, receiving that kind of resistance had to have been frightening. But if her ex did have contacts in the police department, it gave an added level of complexity to the sort of person they were dealing with. Rojas filed it away to consider later.

Cruz broke the silence. “Can you give us your ex’s full name and address? I think it’s about time we find out what there is to know about him.”

Elisa nodded. “I can tell you about his company and his educational background. He doesn’t really have much in the way of family. Parents retired out of country.”

Cruz tapped the desk thoughtfully. “I’m not as curious about his bio. Can you think of why he’s willing to put so much effort into tracking you? Hiring people—that takes money and effort to find the right, discrete kind of people. It’s a risk when it comes to his reputation.”

Elisa opened her mouth and closed it, a couple of times. She started to rub one hand up and down her opposite forearm. Her wrist brace was going to leave scratches in the skin of her opposite arm.

“Why don’t you tell me while we get you settled upstairs for the night?” Alex offered. “Cruz is probably going to be here with Gary’s computer for a few more minutes.”

Cruz nodded. “Any information is good, but I’m going to do some searches, too, to dig into any background you might not know about. Tell Rojas what you can think of in the meantime.”

“Okay.” Elisa paused. “His name is Joseph Corbin Junior. Chief Information Officer of Corbin Systems. The company is global, but the headquarters are in California.”

As she gave them both home and company addresses, Cruz made notes on a pad of paper and nodded. “Good enough to start. Let me get Gary’s computer back up to decent speed and double-check the network security.”

Basic information wasn’t what was eating at her. She hadn’t relaxed after leaving Cruz with that much.

“C’mon, you must be tired.” Rojas gestured toward the back stairs up to the studio above the school.

“It’s been a lot for one day.” She looked around, somewhat twitchy.

He watched her, considering. “Gary and Greg are going to be here soon and stay the night. If anything triggers the security, the police will be here in minutes. You won’t be alone. I’d stay, but Boom—”

“Oh, no. Boom needs you. You’ve already spent too much time today on me, and she’s still recovering.” Guilt tinged her words, and she started to open the door leading to the stairs.

“Hold up. Let us go first.” He wanted to address the guilt she was feeling over taking him away from Boom, but he applied his focus to clearing the stairs and the upstairs area first.

Stairs were always the toughest to clear, especially narrow ones like these.

Cruz called from the office. “Camera feed shows the upstairs as clear.”

Rojas relaxed a fraction but didn’t speed his ascent, letting Souze take the lead. Knowing the cameras didn’t pick up anything helped, but nothing replaced the accuracy of eyes on the area. A skilled intruder could see security cameras and hide.

Reaching the top of the stairs, it took him a few extra moments to pie the corner in such a tight space. Then they were going down the short hallway to the room Elisa was staying in and clearing it, too.

Task completed, Rojas returned to the top of the stairs and called down to Elisa. “Clear. You can come on up.”

The security system was good. He’d told her so himself. The likelihood of an intruder hiding upstairs had been minimal. But considering the latest issues she’d been experiencing, he thought indulging his tendency for overkill wouldn’t hurt and might even help her feel safer coming up to the guest room.

Once she joined them upstairs, she headed into the guest room. Rojas lingered in the doorway.

The conversation they’d been having downstairs seemed weird to pick up now, and he opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times with false starts. Talking. Not exactly his forte.

Any of his interactions with women over the last couple of years had been infrequent and brief, limited to meeting in a club or bar, maybe heading back to her place. But he’d never stay the night and never tried to see the woman again. Standing here, wanting a different kind of connection, he didn’t know how to approach it.

Elisa turned to face him from the middle of the small room. She looked lost, tiny, standing there alone.

Clearing his throat, he pushed back the clumsy self-consciousness swamping his brain. “Do you mind if I come in?”





Chapter Thirteen



He stood there for a long moment waiting for her answer.

She blinked. Startled. “You were just in here.”

Of course. He sounded incredibly stupid. “Yeah, but that was to be sure it was empty. Now you’re in it.”

Brilliant. As explanations went, it wasn’t the best he’d ever made.

But Elisa smiled. “Thank you for the consideration.” She hesitated, dropping her eyes. “And, yes, you can both come in.”

“I’m betting Souze appreciates you including him in the invitation.” Actually, Rojas really liked her tendency to keep the dog in mind.

“So.” She glanced around, opened her mouth, and then closed it again.