“Holy shit, Ang,” Colt said softly. “Where did that come from?”
She sucked in a breath and squeezed herself tighter. “I’m not entirely sure, but it’s about time, right? I’m done letting people walk all over me. For any reason.”
“I’m proud of you, baby.”
She should be furious with him too. She wasn’t. And there went that little thrill of pleasure rushing through her when he called her baby. “I didn’t do it to make you proud.”
“I know. I’m proud anyway. The way you stood up to Ian? That was epic. I don’t think he gets that very often.”
“He’s a jerk.”
“He can be. But he has a lot on his shoulders, more than you know, and it takes a toll. He forgets how to be human sometimes.”
“I know he did a lot for Jace and Maddy. I don’t hate him. In fact, that alone makes me like him more than he deserves.” She pulled in a breath. “Did you find out anything else?”
“Not really. We don’t know who tried to break into your place. He kept his face covered in front of the building’s cameras so they didn’t get anything distinguishable. Average height and build, dressed in black. Nothing usable.”
“Was that number an account number in the Caymans?”
“Still working on it. Dax Freed is one of the best computer guys I know. He’ll figure it out.”
Angie leaned her heated forehead against the cool window. “I spent days trying to find the error. There is no error. The spreadsheet Charles had is for a secret account, not the official account. That’s why they don’t match.”
“That’s what we think, too.”
“He transferred it onto the BB&B server the night before he supposedly quit. That’s terrifying. He must have thought he was in danger to do that. But where is he now? Or did they really get to him and you just don’t know it yet?”
“It’s possible. There are a lot of ways to dispose of a body when you don’t want it found.”
She was cold inside. And hot on the outside. What the hell? “I saw the evidence of his—or someone’s—criminal activity. I wish I never had. I want them caught. Whoever they are. And Charles—I don’t wish him dead, but where in the hell did he get two mil? He wasn’t some kind of crazy frugal guy who’d been saving his whole life and then died in an apartment with sixty cats. He was in his thirties, and he didn’t scrimp on the good stuff. He drove a Porsche GT3. Not a brand new one, but still. His suits were Brooks Brothers, and he wore a Rolex. He bought custom Italian loafers and bragged about how marvelous they were. Ugh.”
Colt pulled up to a red light and stopped, his hand draping over the wheel as he turned to look at her. “I know, Ang. That’s why I do this job. I don’t want the bad guys to get away with anything. I want to stop them before they do any harm. I don’t know if Charles is alive or not—but I intend to find out.”
She thought of something else then. “Was Ian serious when he said you could use me at BDI? Or was he just taking a jab at me?”
Colt smiled. “Ian makes a lot of jokes, but you always know they’re jokes. He never kids about anything serious. He wasn’t kidding about you.”
“I’m an accountant, not a spy—or whatever you guys are calling yourselves today.”
He arched an eyebrow. “You’re a mathematician. You analyze data. You look for patterns and you do statistical analysis. You’re exactly the kind of employee BDI can use. Not everyone carries a gun and fights in the field. We have plenty of people who man the desks and make sure we have the information we need to do the job. You could be one of those people.”
“When you say it like that, it sounds intriguing. Though I have to admit, being an accountant is turning out to be much crazier than I’d have ever thought. My dad was an accountant for forty years—pretty sure he never had bad guys after him.”
Working at BDI, analyzing data, and knowing the danger that Colt and Jace and the others endured wouldn’t be easy. And then there was Maddy. What if Angie learned something that could affect Jace and had to keep it from her? That would be awful. And then if something happened to him? She would never forgive herself if she’d known something she couldn’t share with Maddy.
“Think about it,” Colt said. When she didn’t reply, he reached over and gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s data analysis, Ang. You don’t have to worry about making decisions that affect the field operatives. You’d work with a team and your conclusions would be thoroughly discussed before any actions were taken.”
“How did you know that’s what I was thinking?”
He smiled. Her heart flipped. “Because I know you.”
She was beginning to believe he did.
It was a thrilling thought.
Chapter Eleven
Colt drove back to his place and parked in the driveway. He powered up the garage door and they dashed for the opening as the rain pounded down on their heads. Angie shivered, her teeth chattering as he slid the key into the lock and opened the door.
“I need to check the house,” he told her. “Wait here.”
She nodded. He didn’t expect to find anyone inside since the alarm hadn’t been tripped, but in his line of work he’d learned never to underestimate a determined foe. No one had tried to break into her condo again, but that didn’t mean they’d given up. If they’d somehow traced her here, they could be waiting.
Clearing the house took no time
