Deadly Coincidence (Brantley Walker Off the Books #4) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,44
got her through each and every day.
Before she could shift topics to something more comfortable, her cell phone rang. Since the only person who ever called her was Brantley, and only when a text wasn’t suitable for the situation, she snatched it from the table, hit the talk button without bothering to look at the screen.
Holding Baz’s gaze, she answered with, “Hey, why are—”
“JJ, I need to talk to you.” The words were rushed, dripping with what sounded like panic.
Frowning, she tried to place the voice. Definitely not Brantley.
“JJ? Are you there?”
Pulling the phone away from her ear, she peered at the screen. The number wasn’t familiar, nor was it in her contact list, because there was no name.
“I wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t urgent.”
She was about to ask the caller to identify himself when it clicked, the metaphorical lightbulb shining brightly in her head.
“Dante?” She listened for a response, heard only breathing, so she added, “Where are you?”
JJ saw Baz’s expression shutter, his eyes darkening, clearly with disapproval.
Dante’s tone bordered on hysterical when he answered with, “I didn’t know who else to call. I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
“About what?”
“I can’t say over the phone,” he said in a rush. “It’s … life-or-death.”
It wasn’t the theatrics that got her, because JJ was used to Dante’s dramatic flair. It was that he sounded so unlike himself that she agreed. “Fine. Where?”
He was huffing, his words high-pitched. Definitely panicked. “Your house. Ten minutes. Alone. Please, JJ.”
Swallowing hard, she nodded as though Dante could see her. “Okay.”
The call disconnected abruptly, and she looked up to see Baz was watching her closely.
“Dante’s callin’ you?” he asked, sounding not at all pleased but at the same time curious.
JJ glanced at her phone. “Evidently.” She met his gaze again. “I have to go meet him.”
Admittedly, she was using Dante as an excuse to get a pass on this conversation. Despite her feelings for Baz, or maybe because of them, she wasn’t ready for them to put the brakes on completely. And if she stayed, she knew that would be the outcome, because aside from being a world-class hacker, JJ’s other talent was pushing people away.
“Why?” Baz asked.
“He didn’t say.” She scooted out of the booth. “I’m sorry.”
She didn’t give him a chance to speak before she was hurrying toward the door. Any other time, she would’ve told Dante to go to hell, but right now, she was honestly concerned. She’d known Dante Greenwood for most of her life, and even though he’d fucked her over on too many occasions to count, JJ couldn’t leave him in the lurch. Never once in all that time had Dante asked anything of her.
Not like this.
It took less than ten minutes to get to her small house just a few blocks from Main Street. She slowed down on the approach, scanning the street and the houses. There were no other vehicles in her driveway or parked at the curb, which she took to mean she’d beaten him there.
It wasn’t until she was unlocking her front door that her heart was jolted by a man stepping out from beside her house.
“Holy shit, Dante,” she gasped, clutching her chest. “You damn near gave me a heart attack.”
His eyes were wild, his usually perfectly styled hair sticking up everywhere. He certainly didn’t look like the well-put-together man she’d known for so long.
Dante scanned the street, the yard, behind him, keeping to the shadows as he approached the front porch.
“We need to go in,” he urged, his voice low and still ringing with hysteria.
Figuring she might get answers if he felt safe, JJ opened the door, stepped inside, and was practically mowed down by Dante.
“Lock the door,” he insisted, moving toward the kitchen, peeking around the wall.
JJ locked the door and turned to watch as he hurried to check all the rooms, as though he expected her to have company.
“No one’s here,” she assured him.
“You don’t know that.”
JJ frowned. “I’d like to think I do. This is my house.”
“Where’s your gun?” he asked.
Now she was really getting concerned. “Dante—”
“Where is it, JJ? Are you armed?”
“It’s not on my person, no,” she snapped back. “It’s locked up. Why?”
“You need to get it.” His gaze swung to the windows, the door, then back to her. “You need to have it on you.”
JJ was beginning to wonder if he was high. Dante had never been the paranoid type, but he was clearly on edge right now.