“No problem. Happy I could help. Here, you can keep this too in case you need it again sometime.” He placed the brush in my hand and turned to close the hood of the car.
“Where you running off to so fast?” Ripper asked, trailing me to the driver’s door and quickly reaching around to open it for me.
I didn’t know what to say, so I went with the truth. “Um, I’m late for a class.”
“Oh, you’re a student.” He glanced over me again. “Yeah, I can see that. You look like the student type—all put together and ready to learn.” He paused as he glanced between Hunter and me again. “What you don’t look like, is Hunter’s sister. I was under the impression he didn’t have any close family around here, other than his brother.”
I froze, my mind searching for something, anything I could say that would diffuse the situation.
“She’s my foster sister,” Hunter said with a scowl from the sidewalk. “And she recently moved here for school. What is with you tonight, Ripper? Why the twenty questions?”
Ripper faced Hunter. “Chill out, will ya? I wanna know more about her. She’s a pretty girl. You don’t need to get all protective.” He looked back at me with a sly grin. “I only wanna play with her a bit.”
“She’s too young for you,” Hunter replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “Get the thought out of your mind, and let it go.”
I was starting to get worried that Hunter might bash Ripper’s head into the car. He seemed really angry.
“How old are you, baby?” Ripper asked, his appreciative gaze roaming over me once more.
I tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a strangled gurgle. “I’m only eighteen.”
“That’s perfect,” Ripper responded, turning to Hunter. “She’s legal, so quit sweating it.”
“You’re twenty-four, man. That’s six years difference. It’s practically robbing the cradle.”
Ripper shrugged. “What can I say? I like them young.” He grinned and winked at me again, and I resisted the urge to shiver from that creepy remark. “Cami, why don’t you skip class and join Hunter and me for a bite to eat? My treat.”
“I really can’t,” I said, inching my way closer to the car so I could get inside. “I wasn’t planning on this delay, and I’m already really late. Thank you anyway,” I tacked on, trying to sound polite.
“Where’s your class at?” he asked.
“U of A,” I answered automatically without thinking that perhaps I should’ve shielded my answer.
“Shoot, by the time you drive all the way back over there, you’ll have missed most, if not all, of your class. You’re going to be marked absent anyway. Let me take you two to dinner.”
I glanced over at Hunter, sending him a pleading look for help, unsure what to do. He gave a sigh and hung his head for a moment.
“Let him feed you or he’s gonna bug me about it all night. But don’t let him try to seduce you. He’s a total player.”
“Aw, come on. I’m not that bad once you get to know me. Leave your car here. You can ride with me, and I’ll drop you off later.”
“Like hell,” Hunter said with a menacing growl. “There’s no way I’m letting you alone in a car with my sister. Cami, you get in with me.”
Ripper laughed as he got into his vehicle. “Touchy, touchy. Meet me at the diner. Shall we race?”
Hunter waved him off, and Ripper grinned as he threw his car in reverse and gassed it out of the parking lot, clearly showing off.
I slid into the passenger seat of the red Camaro, and Hunter got in on the driver’s side. He locked eyes with me. “Goody, you and I just fell into some seriously hot water.”
Chapter Nine
Hunter-
“What are we going to do now?” Cami said looking at me with concern as I started the car.
“Give me your phone.”
She fumbled for it in her pocket, and handed it over. I quickly punched in the number for my police chief. He answered on the second ring, and I filled him in on what had happened.
“Wilcock, you better be glad I’m not with you right now. I’d be tempted to strangle you. What part of “no contact” did you not understand? Hang on.”
He was angry with me. I was angry with me. Wisely, I kept my mouth shut, knowing he wasn’t truly looking for an answer. His voice was muffled for a few seconds as he spoke in an angry tone to someone else. Sighing, I waited.
“You're going to need to put her in your plan,” he said when he returned. “I’ll notify Chris, and we’ll set Cami up as a younger foster sister of you both. That should be easy enough to pull off. We’ll say she was placed with the family as a baby.”
“No freaking way!” I practically yelled into the phone. “I don't want her getting involved in this at all!”
“Well, you should've thought of that before you met her! Don't place this on the department, Wilcock. You brought this on yourself, so now you need to fix your mess.” He sounded extremely annoyed, and I couldn't blame him. He’d told me not to contact my family or friends; that we needed to keep them safe. I’d broken the rules, determined I could get away with it. Now I was going to pay the price by dragging the person I loved the most right into the middle of everything.
“Well, then let's send her somewhere else. There has to be some place safer for her.”
“Hunter! I have school. I can't leave. I’ll lose my scholarships!” Cami looked desperate. I knew this was upsetting her, but I didn’t want her anywhere near the situation.
“I think you should leave her where she is,” Chief Robson said. “She's living on campus, isn't she? That should be far enough away from what you’re doing. Try to keep her out of things from now on. No more contact after this!”
“You don't understand, Chief. He likes her, and I think he wants to get to know her better. I can't allow that to happen.”
“I can't make her disappear now,” he replied with exasperation. “That would definitely look suspicious. We have limited time to deal with this. You’re both going to have to make the best of this situation. I’ll get to work right away making sure your story checks out with Chris. Until then, you're both on your own. My hands are tied.”
I growled in disgust and ended the call, handing the phone back to Cami.
“What did he say?” She looked scared, and I hated knowing I was responsible for putting that look there.
“He says we’re on our own. I made this mess, and they’ll do their best to help, but we’ll have to keep the pretenses going and work things out. I screwed up everything.” I sighed, mentally kicking myself. “As of now you're officially my foster sister.” I beat my hand against the steering wheel of the car. “Dammit!”
“Hunter, I’m so sorry. I shouldn't have come. I knew I should’ve said no when you texted. But I missed you so badly.” She was wringing her hands together like she did when she was nervous.
“Don't you even try to take the blame! This is my fault. I knew better than to ask you to meet me, but I couldn't take it any longer.”
I stared at her, my heart breaking, unable to stay away anymore. I grabbed her, pulling her against me, and kissed her, roughly sinking my fingers into her hair as I held her head next to mine. I felt like I was drowning in the sensation, like it'd been years since I held her like this. I couldn't get enough.
She melted against me briefly and then resisted, sliding her hand against my chest—and pushed me away. I looked at her in surprise, unable to believe it.
“Hunter, I'd give anything to stay here and keep doing this with you right now, but he's waiting for us. We've got to be careful. We can't do anything to make him suspicious.”
I knew she was right. I snarled and turned back, put the car in reverse, and peeled out of the parking space. I didn't speak as we turned onto the road and headed toward the diner, a place Ripper and his friends Seth and Nick frequented often. I’d spent a lot of time there lately with them and Roberta.
“I need to know some of the details of our foster h
ome,” Cami said as I drove. “Ripper is going to question me, and I want to be able to answer him appropriately without blowing your cover.”
Dragging a hand through my hair, I blew out a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I needed to get in control and think like an officer. She was right, and we only had a few minutes to get our story down.
“Chris is supposed to be my older foster brother. He’ll be your older brother now too obviously. They’re going to say you were placed with the family as a baby. It’ll explain why you have a different last name than either of us. His family raised me from the time I was placed in foster care at the age of ten. They weren't the best family in the system, but there was love and respect. His parents wanted to adopt, but due to legal issues and lack of sufficient money, they were unable to.
“Chris left home and got involved in the drug scene. He became a crack head. Even though he was the blood child of our foster parents, the family disowned him. But I couldn't forget the relationship we had growing up—he’d been the big brother who looked out for me, so I decided to start looking out for him. We moved in together and have been floating around the country as he goes from job to job. I've been working as a mechanic in the different towns we’ve lived in. I used those jobs to customize the car I'm driving now.”
“Do you even know anything about cars?” Cami looked worried.
“Fortunately, yes. Auto shop was one of the classes I took every year in high school. My teacher happened to love rebuilding old cars, so my education works perfectly for this situation.”
“I find it hard to believe a rich kid like you would have been interested in taking automotive classes.”
I laughed and glanced over at her. “Are you calling me a snob?”
“Maybe.” She grinned. “But not intentionally. It just seems funny to me. Most kids take classes they think will further their job career in the future. I can't picture you wanting to be a mechanic.”
I shrugged. “I don't know that I ever thought I would be, but I do like working with cars. Besides, rebuilding them would be an amazing hobby for me. My dad has always loved cars too. I remember he built one of those kit cars once when I was a kid. I loved going for rides in it. I might have to get into that someday.” I paused, thinking about how I’d enjoy this possibility. “My parents may have money, but they’re self-made and doing what they love,” I continued. “They believe in the value of hard work. They may have spoiled us with things, but they taught us a healthy respect for a good work ethic.”
“So I'm guessing that's why they didn't have a problem with your sister marrying a police officer and you following in the same career yourself?”
I nodded. “I am sure that’s part of it—but remember, I told you I was a wild child. I think they were happy to see me correct that and gravitate to a more stable future.”
Cami snickered wryly. “You call this stable?”
I gave a slight roll of my eyes. “Yeah . . . I see what you mean. This probably wasn't exactly what they had in mind.”
“What else do I need to know about what's going on?”
“We don't have much time, but here's the deal. This is a missing person’s case. The department believes Ripper or some of his friends might be involved. His sister, Roberta, is my contact. She’s helping to feed us information on Ripper and giving me a reasonable cover to approach them. That’s why I’m posing as her boyfriend. Ripper and his gang are believed to be stealing cars too, and reselling them on the black market. I'm to gather all the information I can about how they run their operation and who they sell to, while trying to find any information on Manny, who is still missing.”
I turned into the parking lot of the restaurant.
“Why would this Roberta go against her brother?”
“Manny was her boyfriend, and Ripper’s business partner. He and Ripper had a fight one night, and no one has seen Manny since. Roberta thinks Ripper may have killed him.”
A stricken look crossed her face. “That’s scary. How long ago did this happen?”
I parked the car and turned off the engine before staring at her. Finally, there was the fear I wanted to see in her eyes. She needed to realize how dangerous this was. “It's been almost a year. Do you see why I don't want you here?”
“I do, but you're stuck with me now.” She grabbed my hand, gripping tightly. “I'll be careful, but I'm not leaving you alone.”
I grasped her hand even tighter. “Cami, I can't live without you. This is going to be hard. I'm hoping after tonight you won’t have to be involved. But if you are, you're going to need to remember—you're my sister, not my girlfriend. You're going to have to change the way you act around me.”
“I understand. I want to help if I can.”
“If you really mean that, then do your best to disappear.” I wasn't trying to be mean, I just wanted her as far from the situation as possible. I quickly released her hand when I noticed Ripper moving toward the car. “It's show time, Goody.”
Cami gave a quick nod, and reached for her purse. “I'm ready, let's do it.” She plastered a happy smile on her face, opened the door, and got out.
I quickly joined them on the sidewalk, trying to take my own advice and appear at ease when Ripper casually draped his arm around Cami’s shoulders. I couldn’t blow this now. The friendship was still new and fragile between Ripper and me, and I needed to prove I could be trusted. I hoped I’d given Cami enough details for her to fake her way along tonight. I needed to be on my guard and pay attention to everything that was said.
The hostess seated us at Ripper's preferred booth in the corner. She handed us the menus and left to fill our waters. I tried not to drum my fingers against the table, which would be a sure sign of nerves—not that Ripper was paying any attention to me. He seemed fully mesmerized by Cami and intent on playing a game of “getting-to-know-you” as he tried to learn all he could about her. His first question, of course, was, “Do you have a boyfriend?” I wanted to punch him in the face.
Cami handled everything like a pro—too well, actually. She was answering everything appropriately, blushing in all the right places, being perfectly charming, and I knew Ripper was going to fall for her. How could he not?
“Why didn't you tell me you have a sister like Cami?” Ripper gave me an accusatory glare. “I would’ve had you invite her over long before now.”
“That’s precisely the reason I didn't tell you,” I replied, sending a glare right back at him. “I know you’re a player, and I didn't want you playing with her.” I tossed my menu on the table, wondering where in the heck the waitress went as I looked around for her. I needed someone to help interrupt this love fest.
“Don't be telling her stuff like that about me,” Ripper said with a laugh. “I'm trying to make a good impression here.”
I wasn’t going to make it easy on him. “Cami needs to concentrate on school right now. She has enough on her plate without complicating it with a guy.”
Ripper turned toward Cami, giving her an appreciative glance as he ran his hand suggestively over her forearm. “I bet a smart chick like you can multitask, can't you?”
I tried not to groan out loud as I picked up the butter knife beside me, casually handling it as I briefly contemplated stabbing it through Ripper’s eye. I hoped I could get through the rest of this meal without committing a murder of my own, but right now, it wasn't looking too promising.
Chapter Ten
Hunter-
My life was a mess. Could things be any worse than they were right at this moment? I was currently sprawled out in a recliner in my fake house. Roberta sat on my lap, nuzzling my neck, and I attempted to appear into what she was doing while resisting the urge to drag Ripper off the couch, away from Cami, and beat him to a pulp.
Cami was having a hard time keeping her eyes from wandering over the display of affection Roberta was putting on, but Ripper was doing his damnedest to divert her attention with small strokes and touches while he talked to her. I thought m
y head was going to explode. Where in the hell was Chris?
As if on cue, the door burst open and Chris stumbled in. While I was relieved to see him, I had to work hard not to laugh at his appearance. Gone was the well-dressed police officer I was used to, and a red nosed, sniffing, drunk guy stood in his place.
“You’re home late,” I said, staring at him with disgust.
He gave a loopy, lopsided grin and banged the door shut behind him. “I ssstopped sssomewhere for a bit of. . . refreshment after work.”
“I can see that,” I replied, gently pushing Roberta off my lap. She settled back into the chair behind me. I folded my arms, facing Chris with a determined expression. “Don’t you think it’s a bit early in the week to be doing this? You’ve got to work tomorrow, and you barely started this job. I don’t think you should be blowing it already. You’re running out of references, man, and I still haven’t found any steady work. We can’t afford to live off my savings forever.”
Chris waved his hand at me in dismissal. “I don’t wanna talk ‘bout thiss right now.” He stumbled across the room, pausing to stare toward the couch with a grin. “’S that my pretty baby sisster? What . . . no hug for your big bro, Cami? You haven’t even been to sssee me sssince you moved here. Or have Mom and Dad brainwashed ya againsst me too?”
Cami stood and smiled as she walked toward him. “I’m always happy to see you, Chris.”
He grabbed her in a big bear hug, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste, pushing away from him.
“Ugh, you’ve been drinking . . . a lot.”
Chris frowned as he released her. “I’snot as bad as it ssseems. I ssspilled ssome on my shirt.” He went over and dropped down on the couch, right next to Ripper, leaving the only seat for Cami on the other side of him. I loved how quickly he’d read the situation. I wanted to hug him too.
I made a big show of sighing loudly, turning to Roberta. “Be back in a minute, baby. I need to go get some coffee for Chris.”