Page 135 of Mayhem
“Go pack, Erin,” Cruz cut her off. “At this point, it isn’t up for debate. I don’t care if they take it seriously or not. It’s better to have it on the record.”
She glared at him before turning and damn near stomping off towards her bedroom, throwing over her shoulder. “Stop fucking calling me Erin.”
Cruz took a deep breath as his phone rang, and he glanced at the name before answering.
“Hey, Vega.”
“Hey. That plate you sent is registered to a rental company,” the other man stated, getting down to business as always. “I can go down there in the morning if you want and see if they’ll tell me who rented it, but I don’t anticipate having much luck. I’ve had to deal with them before, and without a warrant, they wouldn’t tell me shit.”
He thought about it briefly. There was no point in Vega wasting his time when he knew they wouldn’t cooperate. Besides, they had the license plate number to give to the police when they arrived, and they could get the information since the vehicle had been used in an attack—an untraditional one, but one nonetheless. Erin could have been right, and they might not see it as that, but at least going through the steps would show they’d done so if something else happened.
“Thanks for the offer, but don’t worry about it,” Cruz responded.
“Okay. Let me know if you need anything else.”
They ended the call, and Paetyn was off the phone by that time. “The police are on their way.” He paused. “Why do you think they’re doing this?”
“Crazy people don’t need a reason for what they do.” Did he know for sure they were crazy? No. But he didn’t see another explanation for what was happening.
“I know she said calling the police is pointless, and she’s putting on a brave face, but she’s shaken.”
“I know,” Cruz responded. “Unless one of us is with her, I don’t want her here alone.” It would be easier for her to stay with them until they sorted everything out.
Paetyn walked over to the monitor. “Whoever this is better hope we never end up in the same room together. I will beat them until they can’t stand for this shit.”
Cruz paused, looking at the other man. It had been a long while since he’d heard that tone of voice, and anytime he had, nothing good followed. Paetyn was so good about keeping calm and his emotions in check. Something he hadn’t always been good about. Angering him was never in anyone’s best interest.
“I have my things,” Erin announced, pulling a suitcase behind her. Cruz took it from her and placed it by the door.
“The police should be here soon,” Paetyn supplied, eyes still on the screen.
“Maly, when did these calls start?”
“I don’t remember the exact date, but it was a couple of days after the convention I went to when we first started dating. I could check. Why?”
“I’m just curious.” He pulled her over to the couch. “We know you’re supposed to return here next week, but we don’t want you here alone. At least until this gets handled.”
“Okay,” she responded, and he could easily see she had no desire to be there alone either. “Paetyn, come sit with me, please.”
Paetyn joined them on the couch, and Erin placed her hand on his thigh. Cruz was sure his mood wasn’t lost on her. It was almost like they could feel it. It wasn’t as if he wasn’t just as pissed, but both of them giving off that energy wouldn’t help the situation. So, he was remaining calm. It wasn’t often that he and Paetyn switched roles, but it seemed that tonight was one of those times.
Once the police came and took the report, they left her apartment, double-checking the lock and setting the alarm. Whoever had picked them hadn’t even scratched the plating. When they were home in bed later that morning, Erin snuggled between them; Cruz mildly wondered if Erin getting harassed was their fault. It hadn’t started until after she began dating them, and he could think of a few exes that might be a bit salty things ended.
However, he was almost sure the figure on the screen had been a man, a slight one, but a man, unless the bagginess of the hoodie was throwing him off. With a silent exhale, he closed his eyes, wanting to forget about the night’s events.
38
Cruz walked through the front door. His suit jacket draped over his arm, and his tie had been loosened before he’d even left his office. The day felt like anything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Two of his technicians had somehow loaded the wrong profiles into systems, giving random people access to other people’s homes and the cameras installed. He had to deal with pissed-off customers, but he couldn’t blame them.
Then, a new application they were working on to integrate into the software next year decided that, after months of software engineering and testing, it wanted to crash. Luckily, they’d gotten it back up and running, and none of the coding was lost. It would have been just his luck if it had.
He wished he could be surprised by what had gone wrong during the day, but he wasn’t. It was par for the course on his birthday. If something was going to go wrong at work, that was the day it would all come to a head.
Paetyn turned to him when he entered the living room. “Rough day?” he asked with a raised brow.
“One thing after another.” He paused. “Where’s Erin?”
“She had a walk-in and said she’d run a little late.”
