Page 122 of Rear View
“It’s not,” he agreed. “But if there was someone you knew who could say, fight fire with fire, they might use those emails to trace an IP address. Get a name.” Heeyed me and arched a knowing brow. “You could use it to figure out the link between this guy and her. You’d have a person to be suspicious of. A name to bring forward. From there, we might have a chance.”
Fight fire with fire. Recruit someone who also knew their way around a computer. My lip arced up. Now Castillo was fuckin’ talking. “If only I knew someone like that.”
He grinned, ’cause it was the closest to a confirmation he’d ever gotten from me. Tipping his head at the documents, he said, “Leave this stuff with me, and if anyone asks, we never had this conversation. You’re not a juvenile anymore and your career puts a spotlight directly on your head. If something happens and you’re caught, I can’t make any promises on how it’ll shake out.”
Story of my goddamn life.
I popped a shoulder. “Get caught doin’ what, Castillo?” I turned to face him as I backed toward the door. “Got somewhere else I need to be, now. See you around.”
Offering him a salute, I left, pulling out my phone before I dialed Alec. If I found this guy first, there wouldn’t be anything left of him for the system to handle, but one step at a time. I had a Mr. Sean Hawkins to find.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Xavier
Ryah set her hand on the back of my neck and rolled her fingers through my hair, her nails skimming my scalp as we drove to my place later that afternoon.
Shit, it felt good—relaxin’ every muscle in my body. I leaned into her while she stared down at the burner phone I’d grabbed. Just like Castillo suggested, it was nothing special. A basic flip-style and ugly as hell.
Her gaze lifted and she side-eyed me. “Thanks?”
I barked a laugh. “It’s just in case, darlin’.”
I’d programmed mine and Miles’s info already, so her little fingers worked away, adding Zoya and her parents too.
Poppin’ a hip, I pulled my own phone free and handed it over. “Share your location, yeah.” ’Cause when it came to her, I’d take every damn precaution I could.
She took it, her pretty face twisting when her gaze dropped to that new burner. “I, uh, don’t think that’ll work with this thing.”
My smirk was a shit ton of amused. “With your other one, dream girl.”
Her eyes narrowed on me, before she busted out a playful-as-hell smile, then did as I’d asked.
When I’d given Alec the rundown earlier, we’d sorted a plan. One that’d brought me back, ’cause if we knew anything, it was how to keep our damn hands clean. Which meant no connections. Me calling Alec made sense. Me calling Sean didn’t. Paper trails were proof. Paper trails were problems. I’d make myself a problem if I needed to, but it wasn’t needed. Not yet. And just like last time, I wanted their names out of it.
I’d passed Alec two questions for his brother. What could Sean do? And what would it cost? I’d give the guy my left nut, if that’s what it took. Anything for my girl, I just needed an amount so I could start funneling cash out ASAP. Bills only. Piece by piece. Lump sums threw up red flags, ones we didn’t need. Once I figured out what Sean needed, we’d get that ball rolling.
Then we’d go hunting.
When we crested the hill before my house, my eyes narrowed on the faded red car parked in my driveway—an older-model Civic.
“Who’s that?” Ryah asked.
I shook my head. But a second later, Derek’s familiar face came clear where he sat behind the wheel. But it was the man leaned against the trunk, arms crossed over his chest, that kicked my pulse into overdrive. He was wearing all black, his ratty, gray-streaked hair was long. Longer than the last time I’d seen him, before they’d carted his ass off to prison. He’d pulled it back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. He looked like hell. Older. Like his time had been rough.
Good.
I locked down my grip on the steering wheel, myknuckles aching under the strain. “The fuck is he doin’ here?”
Ryah’s hand slipped from me and dropped to her lap. “Who is it, Xavier?”
“My father,” I said through my teeth. I whipped into the driveway, missing him by inches before I slammed the Jeep into park.
My girl latched on to the seat belt strap across her chest. “What are you gonna do?”
“Wait here, yeah.”
“Xavier?” she pleaded, those copper eyes wide.
