Page 4 of Point of Contact

Courtney straightened her shoulders, smoothed back what remained of her high messy bun, lifted her chin and strode across the street. Confidence was a great costume. One she'd worn more times than she could count.

Hopefully it would work as well today as it had in the past.

She skirted the property, angling her way along the edge of a familiar building. Avoiding the areas she knew had cameras, she ducked into the stairwell and took them two at a time until she reached the third floor.

She grabbed at her bun, pulling a hairpin free before looking side to side and sliding it into the deadbolt. Thank God she’d been too lazy to wash her hair this morning. She added a second hairpin, using it to provide enough strength to twist the lock. After a little maneuvering, it clicked open. She glanced around again before slipping into the apartment of someone she once believed was her friend.

But she wasn’t. She was simply one more person who enjoyed the benefits of being around the wealthy daughter of a powerful man. The free drinks. The spa days. The shopping sprees and the fancy dinners. Her ‘friends’ were always happy to partake.

But when she really needed them, their true colors showed.

And now was time to pay up.

CHAPTER TWO

REED

REED STARED AT the smoking mess in front of him, still struggling to come to terms with what happened. Courtney’s upscale suburban house was all but gone, reduced to nothing more than a pile of scorched debris.

The possibility of what it might contain sat heavy in his gut. Courtney wasn’t his favorite person, but he didn’t want her to end up like this.

Hopefully she hadn’t.

His cell phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket, connecting the call as he turned away from the mess, unable to look at it anymore. “I’m here.”

Heidi, one of Alaskan Security’s primary hackers, hesitated a second. “Is it bad?”

He couldn’t stop himself from turning back. Like he thought maybe another look would make the scene less terrible. It didn’t. “They weren’t exaggerating, that’s for fucking sure.”

If anything, the security company who monitored the system installed in Courtney's house had downplayed the severity of the situation. Losing contact when the power to her place dropped, they’d physically sent someone to verify her safety. They sure as hell could have been a little more specific with their description. Prepared him a little better for what he was going to find.

"So it really did catch on fire, then?" Heidi's skepticism mirrored his own when he first got the call that Courtney's house was on fire. He showed up expecting to find some small, primarily smoke-based issue. One he fully believed Courtney was to blame for, thinking she’d be able to play them into her hand one more time.

And he still half believed she was the cause of what he saw in front of him. Hoped she was the cause. That would mean she’d had a chance to get out.

"Calling this a fire would be a gross understatement." Reed stood along the sidewalk in front of the property, shoulder to shoulder with a handful of nosy neighbors who must not have anything better to do than gape at a disaster. He toed a chunk of singed pink insulation with his sneaker. "The whole structure collapsed. But somehow there's pieces of it twenty yards away."

Heidi was quiet for a second. "So it wasn’t a fire. It was an explosion."

"Sure seems like it." He eyed one of the cops at the scene. "Let me go see what I can find out."

He had to tread lightly. Needed to remember this wasn't Alaska. His employment status carried no weight here, so chances were good the information he’d be able to obtain would be slim to none.

He was still going to try.

The cop taking statements from the neighbors loitering around was about his own age and appeared to be fairly proficient at his job, which didn't bode well for his chances of getting information. Older cops were cut from a different cloth and tended to be a little looser with their lips. The younger generation knew just how quickly information could travel, and the damage a simple screenshot could do, so they held their cards close to their chest.

Reed tipped his head at the officer in greeting. "Everybody make it out okay?"

The cop looked him over, taking in his shorts and T-shirt in a way that made him wish he’d stopped on his way to put on something a little more official looking. Something that might mark him as law enforcement adjacent.

Not that he was. Unfortunately.

The cop eyed him warily. "Are you a neighbor?"

Reed considered making that his claim, but decided to lean fully into his best option. "No." He let his eyes drift back to the smoldering pile before clenching and unclenching his fists. "My friend Courtney lives here."

It was a bold claim, but one he might be able to back up. To a point.

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