Risky Obsession (Wolf Security #3)

27. Kane

CHAPTER 27

Kane

“ W ake up, sleepyhead,” a distant voice said.

I snapped my eyes open. A woman was leaning over me. Jerking awake, I realized the woman was Tory. She was wearing the beanie and reading glasses I’d bought at the gas station and had tucked her blonde hair away.

I rolled to sit on the cracked vinyl seat I’d chosen inside the train station shelter last night and squinted against the stark lights. The area was a dramatic contrast to how dim it had been when I’d lay down.

“What time is it?” I asked.

Lacey pointed at a digital departure board against the back wall of the station. “According to that, the 8:45 train is about to arrive.”

Huh. I’d slept for over two hours. More than I thought I would. Although my body was beyond exhaustion, I didn’t think I could stop all the crap crashing through my mind.

I cracked my neck side to side, trying to loosen the knot wedged at the top of my spine. In my Navy days, I’d slept on some pretty rugged beds, and it had never bothered me too much. Obviously, I’d become soft over the years. Then again, the luxury mattress on my yacht was supposed to be one of the best in the world.

“You okay?” Lacey attempted a smile, but it fell flat. She looked shattered and I had to fight the urge to ask her if she got any sleep.

“Yep. Just annoyed that you’re still here. ”

She smirked. “Someone had to protect your gear while you slept. You could’ve had the whole lot stolen.”

I stood and my back let me know it wasn’t happy. Lacey’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and I couldn’t decide if she was just tired, or she’d been crying. It pissed me off that I cared.

“Here, you might want to put these on.” She handed me the plastic bag with the other beanie and glasses.

I grabbed Pops’ duffle and the plastic bag and strode toward the restrooms. About fifty people were milling around the station, and I was surprised I’d managed any sleep with their noise.

I stood at the mirror and splashed cold water on my face, trying to shock the last of my foggy brain away, then I pulled on the beanie and sunglasses. It wasn’t much of a disguise, but it would have to do. Striding from the restroom, I forced myself not to search for Lacey as I marched toward the train station exit.

She skipped to my side. “You trying to escape from me, Devlin?”

“Yep.”

“Well, you’ll have to try harder. I’m a cop, and I’m damn good at tracking down my man.”

Her tease on words nearly made me grin. Trying to act like I didn’t give a shit about her comment, I scanned the road outside, working on my bearings.

I’d had to hold back many questions when she’d told me about the motorbike gang she’d joined and how she’d changed from criminal to cop. Not many people could make that trajectory. It showed how determined she was, and I hated that I wanted to know more about her when I also couldn’t stand being with her.

A bitter morning breeze raced along the main street and slapped me in the face. I welcomed the attack. If we were going to make it through the day without being arrested, I needed to be on the ball.

“Kane. Look.” She pointed behind us, at a bas-relief sculpture over the train station entrance. Nestled between the brick pillars on either side of the doors, two life-size figures, with full beards were etched in the stone. One was a man in a three-piece suit, and the other was a weathered-looking sailor. Above them, the year 1891 was etched into the stone.

“What about it?” I frowned at Lacey.

Her eyes lit up. “Don’t you recognize it? ”

“Don’t mess with me.”

“I’m not, you idiot. It’s in the photo.”

I studied the artwork again. “What photo?”

“Your pops’ photo of the gold on the train. That’s in the background.” She jabbed her finger up at the sculpture.

I pulled the envelope from inside my jacket and removed the photo.

“See.” She indicated to the top right-hand corner of the photo.

I’d been so focused on the gold and steam train in the photo, I’d completely missed that sculpture in the background.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” She beamed up at me.

“Yeah.”

“That’s good. It proves the gold was here. Right?” She leaned closer to me. “Maybe that picture was proof that the gold had arrived at its destination, not that it was leaving here.”

I blinked at her. “You could be onto something.”

Grinning, she backhanded my arm. “See. You do need me.”

“Don’t push it, bitch.” I fought the grin teasing my lips.

“Aw, come on. That was awesome detective work, don’t you think?”

Grumbling at her, I put my head down to combat the wind and help obscure my face from oncoming pedestrians and stormed away from her.

“Kane. Give me a break.”

Aiming for the car dealer’s address I’d researched with my phone before I’d taken my nap, I increased my speed. The wheels on her case thumped against the pavement as she raced to catch up with me.

“You know this car dealer will ask for ID, right?” Lacey yanked my attention to her by grabbing my wrist.

“No, he won’t.”

“Yeah. He will. You can’t buy a car without registration papers.”

“You can if you pay the right amount of money.”

Her jaw dropped. She seemed lost for words.

It pissed me off that she knew I missed that clue in the photo. I was the real treasure hunter between us. Even so, that clue was definite proof the gold was once here. Hopefully, it still was.

The information Archer had provided convinced me that ünetzburg Castle was another clue. My insides tingled. Just like it did all those years ago when Pops and I put together clues to find long-lost treasures.

A pang of longing swept through me and was swiftly followed by a dose of confusion. I would never know why Pops hid that photo and map in the back of the painting, or even if it was him who’d hidden the items. He should be here with me, sharing this treasure hunt. Not an infuriatingly fascinating woman who lied for a living.

We turned into a narrow street lined with warehouses that looked like they were built in a hurry without any thought of street appeal. I found the car dealer we were looking for nestled between a rundown mechanic shop and a pawn store with more security bars than a diamond trader.

I stopped outside the front door of the car dealer’s office, waiting for Lacey to catch up. The window was so grubby, it was impossible to see if anyone was on the other side. Archer probably had to bribe the dodgy car salesman with a ton of cash. But Archer knew I was good to pay him back.

It was amazing how similar Archer and I were. We were both treasure hunters living on luxury yachts. We both had rotten childhoods, although his was more fucked up than mine. And trust didn’t come easy for either of us. Our biggest difference was that he’d found Rosalina to spend his life with. Although I told myself I wasn’t jealous . . . I damn well was. I was thirty-five, and I’d always thought I’d have a family by now. Fat chance of that happening any time soon, especially now that Lacey had taught me just how bad I was at judging character.

Lacey’s cheeks were flushed red by the time she reached me.

“Stay here.” I glared at her.

“Okay, but what shall I do if you get carted away in a cop car.” She angled her head, and the sun caught in her pale blue eyes.

“Just stay here. Mind my bag.” I dropped my duffle at her feet and then pushed through the door into a small office that was way too warm and stunk of cigarette smoke.

An overweight man with slicked-back hair that was either a wig, or badly dyed, eyeballed me over the top of his computer monitor. “You Duncan?”

I nodded.

He grabbed a set of keys off a hook and a puffer jacket off another, and waved me to follow him. If he recognized me from the news, he didn’t show it.

As he led me through a side door, he pulled on the jacket. We walked past a row of parked cars to a Ford Taurus with dented and faded, mismatched paint panels, and bald tires. I would hate to know how much Archer paid for this bomb.

Correction, how much I would be paying for it.

As long as it drove, I didn’t care. The grinning car salesman handed me the keys, and the car door creaked as I opened it. I started the ignition, and it sounded like dozens of ball bearings rattling around a rusty drum.

The salesman walked away. It seemed our car purchase was done.

I drove to the front of the shop and Lacey’s eyes bulged when she saw me. Dragging her case, and carrying mine, she trudged over. I opened the rear door, and as I shoved the bags in, she ran around to the passenger seat and jumped in like we were in a race.

Maybe she thought I’d drive off without her. If she didn’t have Pops’ duffle bag, I would have.

She pulled on her seatbelt. “You were so quick.”

I drove out of the car yard. “No paperwork.”

“Yeah, but still.” The confusion in her eyes showed how much this messed with her plan to stay on the right side of the law.

The engine whined as I drove through the main street, heading the other way out of town. I kept an eye on the rearview mirror, checking to see if we were followed. If the dodgy car dealer wanted to turn us in, he could tell the cops what car we were in, and we would be screwed.

Forcing that disastrous possibility out of my mind, I turned off the main road, onto a street that ran parallel to the ocean. After breakfast this morning, I’d used the train station Wi-Fi to search for the location of ünetzburg Castle. According to Google Maps, it was just a thirty-minute drive away. We probably could have walked there. Although, the less we were in the public eye, the better.

Lacey drummed her fingers on her sweatpants and her stiff body language told me she was well out of her comfort zone.

Good. I wasn’t comfortable working with a liar either.

At the other end of town, we drove past buildings that still bore the signs of war. Several were half demolished, and nature had taken over as occupants.

Lacey’s unexpected silence continued as we left the outskirts of town. I thought she’d continue gloating about her discovery. What was going through her mind?

Why did I even care ?

Furious that I couldn’t switch my thoughts off her, nor could I get rid of her, I stomped on the gas, trying to get the fucking car to at least reach the speed limit.

Small bungalows with stone fences that looked centuries old lined the street. I turned onto a road that veered away from the ocean and as I gradually drove up a steep incline, the car’s whining grew louder. I crunched down a gear to navigate a hairpin turn and the road became even steeper. The car slowed to a crawl that was fucking ridiculous.

“I think we can walk faster than this,” Lacey joked.

“Go on then.”

“No way. This is exciting.” She flashed a wild grin.

I couldn’t decide if she was faking that smile, or if it was real.

She did that to me, triggered my need to question everything she said and did.

The higher we climbed, the narrower and steeper the road became. Dense vegetation flanked the sides of the road, stealing any potential views from us.

Lacey shifted in her seat angling to face me more. “I wonder what the castle will be like.”

“Old.”

“Maybe it will be in a better condition than Carinhall?”

Our trip to that castle seemed like ages ago.

“Do you think we’re going to find the gold there?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Well, aren’t you the party pooper.”

“Just keeping it real. Unlike you.”

“This is the real me, Kane. Lacey Brooks.”

I clenched my jaw, determined to block her out.

Once a liar, always a liar.

That mantra had been for my sister. Lacey proved that she earned it, too. With her in my company, that mantra was the only way I could keep my sanity.

The car inched up the incline and around each hairpin bend I expected the car to die. In the rearview mirror, black smoke pouring from the exhaust shrouded the view behind me, and although I hadn’t seen anyone following us, I couldn’t shake the feeling that we didn’t get away unnoticed .

The dodgy car dealer was our only weak link. If he recognized us and called the cops, we had no hope of getting away in this bomb.