and Kody breathed a muttered comment of disbelief himself.
"How?" Steele exploded out of his chair, throwing his hands up. "How could this happen? How did he evade all our background checks? Hell, he even passed Leon's check, and he's the best fucking hacker in the mercenary guild. How the fuck did this bastard lurk under our noses so long without raising suspicion?"
I fucking wish I knew the answers to that. "It gets better," I muttered, my throat aching with tension from all the stress. "Bree mentioned he used to be a cop."
Archer scowled. "That we knew. Loads of private security come from police."
"Right." I nodded. "But here's the thing. How many crime scenes did SGPD attend back in those early days? Every time a doll was delivered, when Steele's car was blown up..." I rubbed my forehead, feeling the thumping ache of a headache building. But the guys were following my line of thought.
"The police were involved in the first security system set up," Archer murmured. "He had access then. Kate, on Riot Night, do you remember if he was one of the cops that arrested you?"
My jaw dropped; I hadn't even thought that far back. "I have no idea," I admitted in a whisper. "I don't remember. I wasn't really paying that much attention."
Kody snorted a soft laugh. "Genuinely shocked, babe."
I swiveled around to glare at him in outrage, but he just shrugged and smiled. Fucker. He was right too. I had been particularly oblivious to everyone around me back then. Hell, I'd thought Anna's name was Karen for at least three years, and no one had corrected me. I’d only realized my mistake when I heard Steele call her Anna.
"How does this connect with Scott?" Steele asked. "Why frame him?"
I heaved a sigh and shrugged. "I guess we might find out more when we meet Dave's wife. Bree gave us his home address, and I'd put money on it that it's not the address listed in his employment file."
Archer looked genuinely sickened at this development. "He had a wife? You're not fucking going there without me."
Kody scoffed. "Pretty sure we are, big man. You don't have medical clearance to leave the hospital, and we're not waiting on this."
"Fuck clearance," Archer barked, reaching for his IV drip as though he wanted to yank it straight out of his arm.
Alarmed I shot forward and slapped his hand away before he could complete the motion. "Don't you fucking dare, Archer D'Ath," I snarled. "You're not leaving this bed until a medical professional clears you."
His cool blue eyes met mine with a challenge shining clearly. "Or what?"
"Or I promise you'll regret it, Sunshine." I wasn't backing down on this subject. Not in a million years. Not when his wellbeing was at stake. "Don't fucking test me."
He held my gaze for a long moment. But I didn't flinch or soften, and he was the first to retreat.
"Fine," he growled, like a grouchy bear woken from hibernation too soon. "But you're staying here with me."
I scoffed. "Fat chance. You're not sidelining me on this just because you're sulking. James will stay here and look after you, right?" I turned to arch a brow at my newly discovered father, and he jerked a quick nod back.
"Okay, sorted," Kody announced, clapping his hands. "We'll call you later, Arch." He nudged James out of the way so he could open the door, and I dodged as Archer tried to grab my arm. He had his bad arm strapped up in a sling, though, so he wasn't quick enough.
"Kate!" he shouted as I headed for the door and Kody exited.
I just shot him a grin and blew a kiss. "Love you, Arch."
His face froze, then his scowl softened. "I love you too, Kate."
Steele gave me a nudge, and I hurried out of the room before Archer could reel me back in again. James pulled the door closed after us, and the three of us made our way out of the hospital in silence.
One question kept gnawing at my mind the whole way out to Steele's car, and it was knotting me up with anxiety.
Had she helped him? We could well be walking into the viper’s nest with a live snake lying in wait. God, I hoped not.
Please, please, please, let my uncle's wife just be a normal, clueless housewife. Please.
41
The universe, it seemed, wasn't playing fair. Or it had a seriously fucked up way of cutting me some breaks. But one thing we quickly realized on breaking into