Page 27 of All Jacked Up

The light in her gaze was back. “Maybe it was.”

It had taken me a little longer than I’d planned to handle things here before going back home. My flight left in four hours. I’d be back before lunchtime.

Noa had thought I’d left Saturday after our lunch, but here it was, Monday, a little after two in the morning, and I was still here. In her bedroom. Watching her sleep, like a fucking psycho.

At least I hadn’t put hidden cameras in her apartment. The only things I’d done was put a tracker on her phone, in the lining of all her purses, and then one on her laptop because I had figured it went with her most places. Just for safety purposes. Someone needed to be keeping tabs on her. She was alone in Manhattan.

I had been more of a taker in our friendship, I realized. I wasn’t sure what had even been in it for her all these years. That was going to change. I had a lot to make up for. Starting with giving a shit about her being safe.

Taking the edge of the covers, I pulled them up over her shoulders to cover the side-boob view I’d been enjoying a little too much. Tomorrow, things would get interesting, and because of it, I did tap her living room and kitchen area with a wire just so I’d hear if anyone tried to harass her about Arden Neilson’s disappearance. The ring was in my pocket, and I’d figure out a way to get her the money I got from it.

The note written in Arden’s handwriting on his personal stationery that was left in his place would explain his need to leave. How his mental health was deteriorating at the job and he needed to go reinvent himself. Find a path that excited him again. I thought it was well written. It was some of my best work.

He would be finding himself, but not in the way his note or theemail he’d sent to his boss would lead everyone to believe. The life he was going to wake up to was at least a life. I could have just killed the fucker. But this not only got rid of him; it also gave the family some goodwill with the cartel. Arden would take the place of one of their own in a Mexican prison sentence, and they’d owe us one. It was just good business.

Smirking, I thought about the look on his face when he’d walked into his apartment to find me in his kitchen, leaning against the counter with one of his beers in my hand and my Glock lying in clear view beside me.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Arden stammered, his gaze going from the gun to me and back again.

He was pale, and that amused me. If this made him pale, he wouldn’t last very long where he was going.

“Taking out the trash,” I replied, then took a drink of the bottle in my hand.

“What—I—” He glanced back at his garbage can. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ll walk you through it,” I told him. “Now, get out your laptop, pull up your email, and begin typing out an email to your boss. I’ll tell you what to say.”

He frowned. “Is this about Opal? She’s got the deal. We want her book.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “No, it’s not about my sister’s book. This has more to do with someone else. Now”—I placed my hand on the butt of my gun—“get your laptop. I don’t like repeating myself. It’s tiresome.”

He placed his leather bag on the counter as far away from me as he could get.

“Right here.” I patted my hand on the space beside me. “I want to see every word you write.”

The bastard moved closer. “What is the reason for the gun?” he asked, then laughed nervously. “I’m not a fan of firearms.”

I picked it up and tilted my head to look at him, then the gun. “And I’m not a fan of you. Now, open the goddam laptop. I don’t have all fucking night.”

Noa made a small whimper in her sleep, snapping me out of my thoughts, and I knew I needed to leave in case she woke up. I didn’t know her sleeping patterns.

With one last sweep over her room and body, I turned to leave, stopping on my way out to pick up the panties she’d taken off last and tossed into her laundry hamper. Holding them to my nose, I inhaled, then grinned. Might as well take a souvenir with me. If I couldn’t fuck her, then at least I could smell her while I pumped one out, thinking about it.

Nine

Noa

This day.

I dropped my purse onto the counter, but that was as far as I got.

Since I’d woken up this morning and found the ring missing, the world had felt like it had been in a tailspin that wouldn’t slow down. My gut told me that something bad had happened to make him just drop his life and take off. But he’d handled his lease in advance and had the landlord handling the sublease that would take effect in three months. He had only left a note in his apartment and emailed Dawson his resignation.

What could have driven him to act so rashly? He loved his job. The book he was editing for Opal was his next big thing.

My gaze dropped to the counter. He’d taken the ring. I’d not even heard him come inside last night. Unlike Ransom I had given Arden a key so it would be easy for him to enter but Ishould have heard something. I hadn’t told anyone that since no one had known about the ring but Jellie and now Ransom. Maybe I should have. Dawson had said his parents weren’t accepting his reason for leaving so abruptly and they were demanding an investigation. However, with him leaving a letter, emailing his boss, and even handling his lease, he didn’t think that would happen. Arden was an adult, and he didn’t have to check in with his parents. The belief that he was in trouble with something illegal had been tossed out there. But really? Could I have not known something like that about him? It was hard to wrap my head around.

Everyone at Wilson Roe was in an upheaval. I was the only one of his authors who knew he was gone since I was the only one that I knew was questioned. Our dating hadn’t been a secret. They were trying to decide how to tell the others and reassign his current manuscripts to other editors. I’d personally made sure Opal was handed over to Rebekah Kahn. She was one on the rise, and in my opinion, she was better than Arden. But he’d been determined to hold Rebekah back. She wanted to prove herself, and she’d make sure Opal’s book was perfect.

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