the time after I came back home. My psychologist at the time said it was post-traumatic stress. I was seeing his face in strangers. I thought it was the same thing last night. He didn’t even have the same hair color. The lights on stage were in my eyes. I just dismissed it.”
Cora’s eyes had gone big. “He could be the one. It makes sense.”
Ren frowned. “But it doesn’t. All of this shit has been directed at Hayes. Hayes is the one who went to prison. If Gordon was still holding some crazy grudge over me leaving him all those years ago, he’d come after me. Hurt me. It’s not like I’m hard to find. And it would’ve been so much easier to frame me. I’m way more reckless than Hayes has ever been.”
Cora leaned forward on her elbows, her gaze burning into him. “Not necessarily. Think about it. There’s something more devastating than being hurt. What hurts worse than that?”
A pit settled in his stomach, the realization rocking through him. The words whispered out of him. “Watching the person you love the most get hurt instead.”
“Yes.”
Ren couldn’t even wrap his head around that, but as he said it, the truth resonated through him. He’d briefly considered Gordon when everything had started. His mind naturally went there. But he’d dismissed him just as quickly because Gordon hadn’t even known Hayes. It wouldn’t have made sense for him to target Hayes.
But now Ren knew more. Gordon hadn’t just met Hayes. He’d been threatened by him all those years ago. Hayes had put a gun to his head. And Gordon would not be a man to take that lightly. His pride was everything to him. Respect required or pay the price. Ren had paid the price many times when he’d lived with Gordon. Maybe he was still paying it.
No, maybe Hayes had paid it on Ren’s behalf.
The thought made him go cold inside. If Hayes had gone to prison all those years because of Ren’s stupid mistakes when he was a kid . . . If he’d suffered because . . .
He didn’t even know how to deal with that.
“Ren,” Cora said, breaking him from his sinking thoughts. “We don’t have much time. I need you to tell me everything you know about Gordon right now. Every detail that can help me track him down.”
Ren’s head snapped up at that. “Track him down? The hell you will. There’s no way I’m letting you go anywhere near that guy, even virtually. You’ve already paid enough of a price for this. If it’s him, he’d hurt you now, too. Because of me. He’ll have been watching. He’ll know you mean something to me.”
Something flickered in her gaze. “Ren . . .”
“No, I’m not going to let you put yourself at risk. Fuck that. Andre, don’t you dare let her go after this guy.”
Andre frowned and glanced at Cora.
“The police aren’t going to help you with this,” she said, a ferocity to her expression. “I can. And I know how to be careful. I’m not going to show up on his doorstep. I know how to cover my tracks.”
“Benning—” The word was a plea.
She stood. “I’m tired of people telling me what I can and can’t do. I’m good at this. And I’m not that fragile. I’m not incapable of protecting myself or being careful.”
“I didn’t say—”
She stepped around the table and stood in front of him, arms crossed. “Plus, in case you haven’t noticed, I might kind of care about you, too. And this whole thing could be kind of amazing if we have a chance.”
His chest squeezed tight.
“And I have no idea how y’all feel about me, but there it is. Cora unfiltered. So I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand by and let some psycho stalker with a God complex fuck up my chance to see where this goes with you two. I’ve had enough dating tragedies. Having the two guys I like end up in jail is not an option. Plus, if my ass was sitting in here, I’d expect you two to do everything you could to get me out. So don’t expect less from me. Got it?”
Andre’s eyebrows shot up behind her.
Ren stood, wishing he could reach out to her, pull her to him. He knew how much that must’ve cost her to lay her feelings out like that. But he couldn’t get past the idea of her going anywhere near Gordon. “Please. It’s not that I expect less of you. I’ll go nuts in here knowing you’re out there poking at Gordon. He’s dangerous. This just proves how much. I can get a private investigator again now that I know where to point him. I’ve already lost Hayes once. I just got him back and I’ve just found you. I can’t handle it if either of you end up hurt in all this, especially because of me.”
She leaned forward, cupped the back of his head, and kissed him. “You were a kid, Ren. This is not your fault. And if I can’t get enough on him, you can call your PI. But for right now, I’m all you’ve got. A pissed-off hacker girl.”
“And I’ll watch her back,” Andre added.
Cora peered over her shoulder, no doubt giving Andre a petulant look. “I’m not going in guns a-blazing, Medina.”
Andre shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to look out for you. Ren’s right. I don’t know who this guy is that you’re talking about. But if he’s capable of framing someone not just once but twice and drugging the police captain’s daughter, the guy’s fearless and on a mission. And he’s smart enough to have protected himself well for this long. You don’t know how far he’ll go.” He looked to Ren. “If he’s into hurting people Ren cares about, you fit the bill and could be next on the list.”
Ren’s jaw clenched. He wished he could grab Cora and drag her back to the cell with him. At least then he’d be assured she was safe.