Hard As It Gets: A Hard Ink Novel

  And then the other two idiots joined in.

  Out of nowhere, a howling sounded. Becca looked around and found the dog sitting at the very top of the steps, head back, snout pointing to the ceiling, howling in long, loud ahwoooos like she was singing with them.

  The door to the gym swung open. “What in the fucking hell?” Beckett asked, Easy and Marz coming out right behind him.

  Shaking her head and succumbing to laughter herself, Becca started up the steps. “I broke them. Sorry.”

  Beckett eyeballed her like she had three heads. Right. Because she was the crazy one in a roomful of men singing, “Toora, toora, to loora, ay,” at the top of their lungs.

  “Hey,” Marz said, sinking into a crouch. “This is my kinda dog. What’s it’s na—”

  “No, no, don’t say it!” she said.

  Behind her, all three men said, “Eileen” in chorus.

  “All right, Eileen.” Marz scooped her into his arms and stood up. She licked his cheek. “You and me are going to get along just fine.” He looked over his shoulder. “Now, come on in, assholes. I’ve got us a plan.” He disappeared inside.

  Becca’s shoulders sagged. “Her name’s not Eileen,” she called, but she had a sneaking suspicion that none of them heard her as they all bustled into the gym in a rush.

  TEN MINUTES LATER, everyone had calmed down and they stood in the back corner of the gym around Marz’s makeshift computer desks, fashioned out of two eight-foot-long folding tables positioned to form an L. Becca scanned her gaze over his setup.

  He had three laptops hooked to a series of cables and boxes she couldn’t identify, plus the smallest printer she’d ever seen. Charlie’s hidden note and the gang booklet lay open near one computer, and pages of notes and printouts lay this way and that. An empty pizza box sat on the floor behind the desk, and a row of diet Coke cans added a splash of color to the array of electronics. It looked like the desk of someone who had worked in this space for years.

  He took a seat in the center like a king holding court and dropped the puppy—whose name was definitely not Eileen—to the concrete floor. “Beckett and Shane filled me in on today’s field research, and I’ve scanned most of this book on the Church organization and done some additional research of my own. We are talking some bad-ass shit here.” He looked around the group. “Don’t let the word ‘gang’ make you discount their level of organization, their strength, or their discipline. In the past two years they have destroyed, disbanded, or absorbed three other gangs, expanding their territory substantially. They run eighty percent of the heroin trade in the city, do a fair amount of arms dealing, and appear to have a lot of officials in their pockets. The Church has a sophisticated recruitment system in place and a constant inflow of members. This is organized crime with a capital O and a capital C.”

  “Man, I didn’t know shit could be stacked this high,” Shane said.

  “Got any good news for us?” Nick asked from next to her. At least she wasn’t the only one who seemed to think the situation seemed more and more impossible. Her stomach flip-flopped when she imagined what their odds were against an organization like that.

  “For operational purposes, maybe,” he said, waking up the laptop with the largest monitor. Some of this equipment they’d bought today, but some he’d brought with him. “We’re working on the assumption that the tattoo Becca saw on her assailant belongs to a Churchman. Yes?”

  Becca nodded, so frustrated with herself that she couldn’t be definitive when so much hinged on that damn tattoo. “I’m pretty sure, but in fairness I can’t say with total certainty.”

  “Mind if I see that?” Jeremy asked, pointing toward the gang booklet. Marz passed it over.

  “The fact that the hotel maid associated Charlie’s abductors with being heroin dealers adds another piece of circumstantial evidence,” Nick said.

  Marz nodded. “Agreed. Well, then, I propose this lead is worth investigating further until we have something more to go on. It’s gonna take me a while to see if I can work this bank info. Everyone good with that?”

  Easy held out his big hands. “You know where I stand. If there’s a chance this is who has Charlie, it makes sense to learn everything we can as soon as we can.”

  “I’d rather be doing something than sitting around Fort Living Room,” Shane said. “Besides, we need to figure out the link between this gang and Merritt, assuming there is one.”

  Beckett nodded, crossed his big arms, and leveled a thoughtful gaze at Marz. “We’re on board. What is it you have in mind?”

  Anticipation sent a shiver down her spine. She glanced to Nick, so appreciating his reassuring smile. She couldn’t begin to express how grateful she was that he was with her in this.

  Derek was suddenly a flurry of activity. His fingers flew over the keyboard in front of him for a moment before he shoved a pile of papers aside to clear space on the desk. He slapped down four pieces of paper. “Church has four known front businesses.” He tapped his pointer finger against each sheet as he spoke. “A barbershop, a shipping business and storage facility, a storefront church, of course, and a strip club.”

  “How original,” Easy said, leaning in with the other guys around the table’s edge to see what the pages said.

  Becca glanced to Jeremy, who’d hung back beside her to study the book like he was trying to catch up to speed. He gave her a small, crooked smile that told her to hang in. It was pretty clear he and Nick were cut from the same good-guy cloth.

  Marz pointed to the laptop monitor and shifted sequentially through live images of buildings, headlights flashing across the screen as cars passed by. “I found traffic cameras that give us a visual on three of the four. The barbershop is in the corner of a strip mall, and I haven’t been able to find an eye in the sky on that. Yet.”

  “Shit, dude, is there anything you can’t hack?” Beckett asked, admiration clear in his expression.

  “Heh. I live for challenge. I propose we put boots on the ground and check each of these out. At the very least, we can plant the electronic surveillance devices we picked up this afternoon and acquire firsthand info on interior physical layout, guard presence, and any special security systems you might be able to identify. Maybe one of you can sex up a waitress at the club and see if she’s heard anything about a missing guy that might’ve found himself on the wrong side of the Churchmen.” He aimed a smile at Shane, and everyone else’s gazes slid his way, too.

  Shane’s answering grin was smug as all hell. “You know I’d make any sacrifice for you assholes.” Becca bit back a laugh, but then her mind conjured Nick doing the sexing up of some scantily dressed dancer . . . and that was so not funny.

  She studied Nick’s strong profile, jaw tense, eyes narrowed, shoulder muscles bunched. Every inch of him was all business, and it was so sexy. The thought of anyone else’s hands or lips on him didn’t just make her jealous, though her brain buzzed with displeasure. Despite how recently they’d met and how much they still had to learn about one another, her soul looked at this harshly beautiful man and thought, mine. It wasn’t even a conscious thought, really, more a reaction to the intense connection this crazy situation had forged between them. Not to mention a bone-deep wish. She wanted him.

  It was that simple and that complex.

  As she watched him make plans with his team, her chest suddenly constricted. Because she realized she was looking at someone who had the power to send her flying or crashing from the heights. And, oh God, the more they talked about the possible risks at each of the locations, the more her gut clenched with the understanding of just how much danger they were in, and how much more they might yet face.

  And he doesn’t think he has much to lose.

  Becca nearly gasped at the memory of his words. She had to tell him. He had her.

  Murda cut away from the group, pulling her out of her head. “I’ll be right back,” he yelled, boots echoing off the hard floor as he double-timed it toward the door.

 
“Probably only need two or three men for this,” Marz said. “I figured I’d stay here to make sure the bugs were coming through loud and clear and look for additional cameras on our hot spots. Too much testosterone traveling together might raise suspicion with these guys. And someone should stay with Becca. Who’s up for some recon?”

  “No offense, Marz, but I’ve been your computer bitch all damn day, so I wouldn’t mind a boondoggle,” Easy said with a laugh.

  “I’ll stay with Becca,” Nick said, giving her a smile that just hinted at the dimple.

  Shane pointed to himself. “You just voluntold me I should go for the sexin’ up.”

  “Dude, I got that shit covered, and then some.” Easy winked, and Becca couldn’t help but chuckle. The black Under Armour shirt he wore highlighted every dip and ridge of his muscles. Saying he was impressively built was a gross understatement. No doubt if he and Shane walked into a bar, every other man’s arm in the room would grow cold as the women all drifted their way.

  “All right, this doesn’t need to turn into a jack-off contest,” Marz said with a chuckle.

  Geez, good thing she didn’t embarrass easily. The people she worked with—doctors and nurses alike—could be some of the most humorously crude people she knew. The high-stress environment of the emergency department demanded the release. If people weren’t having sex in the on-call room, they were at least joking about it.

  “Prepare to be impressed, Marz,” Beckett called, returning to the gym. “I have toys.” On the edge of the table, he laid out an oversized tablet with antennae sticking out and several small cell-phone-sized devices.

  “Aww, man,” Marz said, picking up the camera like he was Gollum discovering the ring.

  “What is it?” Becca asked.

  Beckett crossed his arms. “An X-ray camera with see-through-the-wall technology. Can determine a person’s location, speed, and direction through walls as thick as one foot. It’s essentially a radar system that measures changes in WiFi wave frequency. It’s so sensitive, it can tell the difference between an inanimate object and a person’s breathing pattern.”

  “This has got to be a pre-market prototype, Beck. You gotta have some good friends doing R&D work. Or are you into testing equipment for law enforcement?”

  Beckett smiled. “Let’s leave it at good friends. Here’s what I was thinking—for all of these locations, humans on the main floor make total sense. But this might allow us an eye into the nonpublic spaces of these buildings. If this picks up an identifiably human target, as indicated by breathing patterns, but it remains stationary, that could be our prisoner. Not foolproof by any means, but maybe another way to rule these locations in or out for further investigation.” He grinned at Marz. “I knew you’d appreciate it.”

  “I want to procreate with it.” He winked at Becca, and she adored how easily he could make her smile. “Sorry. I get a little overexcited.”

  She just held up her hands and chuckled. Didn’t want to touch that with a ten-foot pole.

  “Well, you’ll get a chance to play, because it can send a feed back to your computer, so you can start analyzing the data if you want,” the big guy said. “Just sync the devices.”

  “Damn skippy, I want.” Marz rubbed his hands together and dove into setting up the scanner.

  Beckett picked up the cell-phone-like devices. “And I brought a couple GPS trackers, too. If we see any vehicles that seem worth tracing, I can attach these and they’ll send an alert to my phone any time the target vehicle moves. Might lead us to other likely stash spots if these turn up empty.”

  Easy settled a plastic bag on the desk. “We also have burn phones for everyone. So grab a cell and let’s take a minute to program in each other’s digits.” They all reached in and took turns announcing and programming numbers.

  Color her impressed. She never doubted they’d know what they were doing. But imagining it and seeing it were two different things. “You guys are like MacGyver, except instead of paper clips, pocket knives, and rubber bands, you have really cool electronics.”

  Everyone except for Marz let out a groan. His face totally lit up. “MacGyver was a god among men.”

  Easy rolled his eyes. “Dude, MacGyver had a mullet.”

  Marz held up a hand. “I refuse to hear you. Becca, between your three-legged dog and your MacGyver reference, you are officially my favorite person in the room right now.” And there he went, earning another smile from her.

  “Hey, I brought toys.” Beckett’s indignant expression was almost comical.

  “Fine,” Derek sighed. “It’s a tie.”

  Becca smiled at Murda, and he threw her a wink. “Please be careful,” she said, her throat suddenly going tight.

  They all nodded and reassured her. Nick stepped in close, his arm against her shoulder. “Watch your sixes out there,” he added. “And thanks.” Something seemed to pass between Nick and the rest of his team, an understanding perhaps. Becca still didn’t understand the latent tension that undergirded most of their interactions, and she was glad to see a bit of détente setting in. Even if it was only temporary, there was too much at stake for all of them for old conflicts to get in the way now.

  “Just let me know what order you want to hit the locations, and I’ll play along at home.” Marz waggled his fingers over his desk. “Just remember that the strip club closes at three a.m. That’s probably the only one you’ll be able to get into at night, so make sure you get inside.”

  “Oh, we will,” Shane said.

  Easy scooped up the paperwork and bag of electronic bugs and shoved Shane toward the door. “Get your southern ass moving, McCallan.”

  Beckett pocketed the GPS trackers, tucked the scanner under his arm, and knocked twice on the tabletop. “Luck.”

  “Luck, hell,” Easy called. “Carpe scrotum!”

  When they disappeared through the door, something almost like peacefulness settled over the cavernous gym. It was like someone turned down the volume on a radio. Becca let out a sigh, because it was very likely the quiet before the storm.

  “Hey, Becca,” Marz said. She turned her gaze toward him, surprised to find an unusually serious expression on his face. “I know I cut it up a bit. Just want you to know it’s not because I’m not taking this seriously.”

  A warm pressure filled her chest. If she had one thing going for her in all this, it was the complete certainty that she and Charlie were in the best possible hands with Nick and his team. “I never would’ve thought anything else, Derek, but thanks.” Her stomach growled, embarrassingly loud. Marz cocked an eyebrow. “Am I the only one starving?”

  Nick squeezed her shoulders from behind. “No. I could eat a horse. Let’s go grab some food. Probably be a while before any intel starts arriving.”

  “Yeah, go eat. I chowed earlier. My babies will keep me company,” he said, stroking a hand over the big laptop.

  “Jeremy?” she asked.

  He’d been unusually quiet since they came upstairs. “No, I ate earlier, too. Mind if I hang here, Derek? I’m curious how all this works.”

  “Mi casa es su casa. Well, I guess that’s literally true, isn’t it? Pull up a seat.”

  Jeremy swung a folding chair around and sat on it backwards.

  Nick wrapped his arm around Becca’s shoulders and they made their way across the gym. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll whip you up some of the meanest reheated pizza you ever had.”

  Chapter 19

  When he finished his slices of pizza, Rixey watched Becca nibble at the crust of the single piece she’d eaten. Not sleeping, not eating, and under a lot of stress—it was a recipe for getting sick or breaking down. “I know what you need,” he said, slipping from the bar stool.

  She gave a small smile. “What’s that?” The sleepiness in her gaze gave way to something a whole lot more engaged. Her eyes dragged over his body, trailing heat in their wake.

  Rixey wanted to throw his idea out the window, but one need at a time.

  ??
?Chocolate ice cream.” He grabbed the tub of double chocolate fudge brownie from the freezer and proudly presented it to her. It was the same half gallon she’d chosen the other night, when they’d wound up boxing instead, and kissing . . . His cock twitched against his fly at the very fine memory.

  Her face brightened, dispelling some of the shadows hanging around her eyes. “Chocolate ice cream is a proven remedy for almost anything that ails you. Medical fact.”

  “I knew you’d see it my way.” He gathered bowls and spoons and dished out two mounds. “Wanna move to the couch?”

  “If I do, I might fall asleep.”

  “Then I’ll hold you.” He hadn’t even thought to say the words. They were just out of his mouth before his brain caught up. But, damn, he felt their rightness down deep. Meeting her gaze, he absolutely adored the affection that filled her baby blues. He grabbed their desserts and nodded her over.

  “Well, I could hardly resist that.” She slipped off the stool, rounded the back of the big leather couch and sank into the middle.

  “Good to know.” Sitting again reminded him that his weapon was still in the back of his jeans. The bite of it was reassuring. And, anyway, he wasn’t leaving her right now to deal with it. Not when she was looking at him like she was. It wasn’t just desire he saw, but also comfort and gratitude and concern.

  She adjusted her position to sit cross-legged facing him, her knees brushing against his hip and thigh. Her little moans and sounds of enjoyment as she tasted a scoop of the chocolate reverberated right down his body and pooled in his groin. But, for now, this was just about seeing her sated in this most basic of ways. And it was enough.

  He swallowed a big bite of sweet, smooth ice cream and forced his mind to still long enough to really savor it. Damn, that’s good. Ice cream was the single biggest food he’d missed while on deployment, and even after all these months back in the world he still couldn’t get enough. He wasn’t sure whether he or Jeremy had the bigger sweet tooth, but part of their survival kit included a freezer full of the sweet stuff. He took another bite.