Objective (Bloodlines #2)(74)

“Yup!” I chirp.

“Can we unband it, throw it around and roll in it?” she asks seriously. I reach forward and grab the stacks from her hands.

“No. It’s probably evidence, or will be,” I mumble, hopping over the money piles to sit next to her with the backpack. “The money wasn’t what he seemed concerned about. It was this.” I hold up the worn pack. She looks at me like I’m nuts but starts unzipping pockets and sweeping the insides, feeling for anything I missed when I first settled here. I’m going through the straps, inch by inch, feeling for anything that feels out of place.

“Turn it inside out,” she commands when we’ve turned up nothing. I flip the pack wrong side out and stare at her with a ‘now what’ face. She takes it from my hand and scoots closer to the lamp on the nightstand to inspect it closer.

“There!” she says eyes lighting up. “There’s a seam out of place. Like someone re-stitched.” I crawl over to her and look to where she's pointing. She’s right; where the top of the shoulder strap meets the bag the seam looks like it’s been altered. She snaps the threads with her scissors until the strap detaches from the bag. At the very top of the padded shoulder strap is something small and plastic looking. I pull it out carefully and put it in my palm for us both to see.

The USB drive measures about one inch long, a half inch wide, and is about the thickness of a penny. “There is no way you’d have ever known it was there,” I breathe. Aster scrambles up, darting to the living room and brings back her laptop. I pop the flash drive into the allotted slot and wait. A text box pops up onto the screen.

“Dammit, it’s password secured,” I grumble.

“Well now what? That’s like the biggest tease I’ve had in years. All the buildup and none of the release!” she crows. I can’t help but chuckle at her. I was feeling the same way.

“There’s only one person I can ask for help with this and I’m not sure we’re on good terms at the moment.” I tell her. Bentley is the only person I can think of who might need this information, one, for his case, but two because he’s already mixed up in this mess and with Cane missing, my options are severely limited.

“Bentley?” she asks curiously. I sigh and nod my head in affirmation. I stand and grab a phone from the appropriate basket and dial Bentley’s number.

“Tell me you’re not at the trailer,” he demands when he picks up.

“I’m not at the trailer,” I answer snidely. “But how soon can you be here?”

“Dammit. It’s not safe there, princess. What the hell were you thinking?”

“I was thinking I could settle this without you, but...I can’t. I was thinking we all needed to know what the hell was in that stupid pack, and my cousin was here, so I needed to be here, too.” My frustration is evident in my voice.

“I’m thirty minutes out. Sit tight,” he sighs.

“What?” I crow.

“It wasn’t hard to figure out what you were doing once I realized you bailed on me.”





*****


Bentley arrived as promised within the hour. I see him on the monitors and for a moment wish I felt more for him. I care for him, more than just a friend but not enough to call it love. I wish I loved him the same way I loved Cane. I wish things had turned out differently. Aster pipes up from beside me, asking who the hunk of man beef is and I laugh at her as I scramble to the door to let him in.

“Aster, Bentley,” I introduce them. All of a sudden my loud boisterous cousin is quiet as she takes him in.

“Hi,” he says in that voice that sounds like sex and sandpaper.

“Wow,” Aster replies. I nudge her and roll my eyes at Bentley as he grins lopsided at her.

“Hey, love birds, flash drive? Cane in danger? Ring any bells?” I squawk. Bentley snaps his gaze to me and smiles. I point to the laptop and the password box and shrug.

“I don’t know it, obviously.”

“Lemme make some calls,” he grunts, and rounds the corner to the hall, disappearing into the bedroom.

“I really hate you right now,” Aster squeaks at me.

“What?”

“Cane mother f*ckin Ash, was the bees f*ckin' knees back home and you didn’t even have to try to snag him, he pretty much commandeered you the second you were available, and now him?” She thrusts her thumb in the direction of the bedroom. “Alpha Male ATF might actually be hotter than Cane mother f*ckin' Ash, and you’ve had him too! Please tell me how you do it?” she wails dramatically. I snicker at her and shake my head.

“I have no idea but let’s be honest here, it’s not looking like either one is going to work out,” I huff. The truth in my statement sends panic rushing through me. I don’t want to be alone and I do want a happily ever after but there’s so much that’s happened with both men that it seems preposterous to think I could have that with either. Bentley comes stalking down the hall, phone pressed to his ear, types something into the laptop and hits enter. File folders start downloading at an alarming rate. He unzips each one as they finish and starts sifting through the contents. It looks like random emails, medical records and bank statements. None of it looks badass enough to be worthwhile.

“What the hell?” I say, peering over his shoulder. “It looks like a whole lot of nothing,” I exasperate.