Page 1 of Ruthless

Chapter 1

Rachel

“What a fucking day,” Lucas grumbled, tossing the wad of paper towel into the trash on his way out of the office. “I swear, I don’t know why we do this.”

I glanced over at my partner’s weary face as we headed out into the parking lot. Being a private investigator was no easy task—but it mostly involved catching cheating spouses. And today was no different.

“You’ll just have to email the photos Danya, and then we’ll call this one complete,” I said finally, letting out a sigh. “Maybe the next case won’t be so daunting. There’s nothing like watching some guy solicit prostitutes when he’s married to a Russian model.”

“Yeah, I bet she’s gonna show up and take care of every single one of those women like it’s their fault her husband is a piece of shit,” Lucas continued, shaking his head. “Her father is part of the mob. You know how this is going to end—and you know we have to turn a blind eye to it.”

I’ve been turning a blind eye to crime my entire life.

“It is what it is.” I shrugged, hitting the unlock button on my Mercedes SUV. “Getting involved in that kind of shit is how you get killed—and I have no interest in that.”

“Yeah…,” Lucas’s voice trailed off as he opened the door of his car. “Speaking of things that we don’t get involved in… Have you checked up on your brother recently?”

My stomach churned at the mention of Chaz. “No, and I don’t have any intention of doing so. He’s gone from petty drug dealer to drug lord, and I don’t have time to go poking the sleeping dragon. Whatever he gets himself into is his problem.” I loved my brother, but I wasn’t so sure that it was mutual. Chaz only reached out if he needed something—and the last time he wanted my services, I declined.

“You know that as your partner and friend, I keep up with him,” Lucas began, his tone grabbing my attention in the worst way. “I think that we should talk about it. He’s gotten himself into a mess…”

“I’m not bailing him out,” I snapped, ripping at the door handle. “I’m done bailing him out of situations thathegets himself into. I haven’t even spoken to him in over five years now. I’m not changing that.”

“Rachel, this isn’t about bailing him out.” The grave expression on his face is titillating. “I think you should watch yourself… No matter how much space you put between yourself and Chaz, you’restillhis only family. He’s gotten himself involved with some bad,badguys.”

I swallowed the apprehension tightening my throat. “I’m using my mom’s maiden name. It shouldn’t be that easy to trace.”

“Come on, you know as well as I do that if someone wants to find you, they will. That’s what we do for a living. I just think you should let Tyson help out.”

Shaking my head, I clenched my jaw. “I don’t need private security. I can take care of myself just fine.”

Lucas pursed his lips, accepting the defeat. “We’ll talk more about it tomorrow.”

“Fine.” I slid into the driver’s seat of my car and started the engine. Lucas was always overly concerned with what was going on in my brother’s world. Part of me thought my business partner was too curious for his own good—but the other, less dominate part, always reminded myself that he was looking out for me…

And ifhesaid that Chaz was involved with bad people, well, that meant it must be getting dangerous.

However, I had done a solid job of covering my tracks, moving nearly six hours from where Chaz lived it up in Oakland. I only called him on a burner phone, and there was notrail between the two of us. Rachel Parsons disappeared nearly ten years ago at the age of nineteen. I was now Rachel Smith…

And there are a lot of those.

I pulled out of the parking lot, watching as Lucas turned right while I went left. He was the only friend I had in my life, and all the rest were just acquaintances and business associates. None of them knew my real ties, so unless Lucas gave me up, no one would know.

However, the further I drove, the more uneasy I felt. My eyes drifted to the rearview mirror, but the streets were empty heading out of the suburbs. I lived on the outskirts of town, preferring my privacy.

No one is following you.

“You’re being paranoid because of Lucas,” I reassured myself as I turned down the side road that led to my meager cabin. I kept my life simple, even though I had plenty of finances to live in a much more statement worthy house. But I left that to Lucas. He was the showy one of the two of us.

I settled into my seat as the darkness surrounded my vehicle. I was the sole person driving down the road. Even if someone was following from a distance, I would’ve caught on by now. I followed people for a living. I knew how to spot them.

A sigh of relief crested my lips as I turned into the driveway, smashing the automatic gate opener on the visor of my car. I headed straight for the garage, zipping down the driveway. However, as I hit the second remote, the garage door didn’t open.

“What the fuck?” I muttered, shaking my head at the faulty thing. It had been playing up for months. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t, depending on the day. After what Lucas said, I might have been suspicious of it not working had it not become the norm for me.

I put the car in park just outside of the garage and made a mental note that I needed to replace the batteries pronto. I should’ve done it when it first started giving out, but I was lazy. The air was still as I climbed out of my car, slinging my bag over my shoulder. My keys were in my hand as I shut and locked it, heading toward the front porch. I had recently re-stained it, and it looked like a dream, decorating it with flowing plants and cute cliché signs.

But the snap of a twig behind me pulled my attention from my design skills.

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