Jaded (Jaded #1)(96)

He smiled a genuine smile and swung around in his chair, “Thank you, Sheldon.”

Bryce frowned, glanced between us two, and moved the computer screen towards him.

“Williams, Martels, and Alarms.”

“That sounds…not at all familiar,” I said. “Sorry.”

“How much did they charge her for?” Corrigan asked.

“$35.50”

“Are you serious?” Corrigan pushed his way to the screen. “That’s the cheapest alarm company ever. The cost alone would’ve steered me to another company.”

“Thanks, Corrigan.”

“It’s not your fault. You were all traumatized and stuff.”

Bryce pondered, “So maybe this guy didn’t work for the company, but showed up and installed all the stuff himself.”

“And maybe that’s even scarier. He would’ve needed to take her phone call and forward it to his own phone…”

Kevin pointed out, “He’s got the skill to do it. He did all of this.”

“Is a window open? I’m cold.” I glanced around, but none of the guys looked for an open window.

Bryce caught my gaze and nodded solemnly. The goose bumps hadn’t come from the outside temperature. My chills weren’t circumstantial. I turned away, and then moved to the farthest couch where I curled my legs underneath me. Bryce and Corrigan sat on either side of me while Kevin took the desk.

“Can I just ask,” Kevin started. “Why are you guys doing this? Isn’t this police business?”

“Police that aren’t doing a whole lot,” Corrigan growled.

Bryce murmured, “Someone else died and the guy’s obsessed with Sheldon. We’re not…”

“I’m not waiting any longer,” I said firmly and looked up.

I saw the tech for the first time. He was leanly built with intelligent green eyes and brown curls that gave him a boyish innocent look. That look alone would earn him the nickname of ‘Pretty Boy’ for the rest of his life. He was young, but when I looked into his eyes—he wasn’t young.

“Thanks for helping us,” I said again.

Kevin nodded, glanced at Corrigan and Bryce, and murmured, “Mark said to come and help, to do everything possible so that’s what I’m doing.”

“Mark?”

Corrigan asked.

“Sorry.” Kevin rolled his eyes. “Hoodum. That’s what you guys call him.”

“What do you call him?” I asked, throatily.

“Brother.” Kevin smiled. “He’s my big brother.”

“So…you’re not….”

“I’m not a part of Mark’s stupid gang. I go to MIT, actually. I’m post-secondary by, like, four years.” Kevin chuckled and shook his head. “I’m their secret. I help them out. They get me a nice car every now and then, some ‘nicer’ things like diamonds or…I don’t know—I get favors like protection if I ever need it.”

“That’s gotta be sweet.”

“It is, but the cops know about me. One of them, in particular, is on my rear all the time.”

“Which one?” Corrigan asked casually with an easy grin. “They’re not fans of mine either.”

“Officer Milon. He’s such a jerk. I swear, I think half the time he’s the one who breaks the laws and just tries to set us up. I’m surprised he’s not here to bust me. He’s that obsessive sometimes. I feel like I have a homing device implanted in my skin or something sometimes.”

I straightened and looked at Corrigan. “The same officer who was pretty adamant that you’re behind all of this,” I poked him.

Corrigan lifted an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and grunted his agreement.

“No way,” Bryce shook his head. “No way.”

The same thought crossed all our minds.

Bryce continued, “He’s a cop. There is no way he would’ve set all of this up, just to…”

“He’s a vigilante cop,” Corrigan corrected him. “They can do pretty ‘grey-area’ stuff, Bryce. I’ve been arrested enough. I’ve met a few of ‘em.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Kevin added his two cents. “I mean, he might not have set it up, but…he probably didn’t share all his evidence either.”

“Are you for real?” Bryce snapped and glared at no one in particular. “This is…this is a nightmare.”

“He could’ve been behind Sheila’s attack today,” Corrigan suggested.

It did make sense. Partners listened to partners. And partners could be coerced by partners.

“He was really nice to me when I met him,” I murmured.

“Yeah. He is. He’s great to the victims, pretend or real.”

“I don’t know, guys…” Bryce shook his head again and started to pace.

“It doesn’t hurt to go and ask, does it?” Corrigan ventured and held my gaze.

Kevin and Bryce looked at me too.

“They’re parked right across the road,” Corrigan added.

“I might have an address by then for this feed,” Kevin added.

“I think this is stupid. You can’t just go up to a dirty cop and ask them if they’re dirty,” Bryce cried out.