We have circumstantial evidence, and a good attorney could get this information dismissed, no matter how damaging we think it is. We need concrete proof that he paid these officers. We also need concrete proof that Senator Sandoval is involved.”
“How do we prove any of that? Dennis didn’t seem capable of putting together proof, even though he had connected the dots.” Raheem set aside his file.
“We’ll have to go to the source,” Cruz said.
“Logan?” Raheem asked.
“Yes.”
“Tell me you have a plan.”
Cruz smiled crookedly. “I do. We need to get into Logan Towers.”
Raheem’s eyes lit up. “You’re thinking about doing a computer dump.”
“Exactly. But not his computer. Guys like Randall Logan don’t do their own dirty work, and whatever he does, he’ll want it to look legit, which means he’s probably got a company set up that will take care of the payments, which will look like regular old business expenses. We need to go to accounting.”
“I have the perfect program to take care of the dump,” Raheem said.
Cruz stretched an arm along the back of the sofa. “And I know how we’ll get inside the accounting office. We set off the fire alarm, then you and I go in and dump the computer files onto your external drive.”
He laid out the plan, with Raheem nodding his agreement at various points. When he finished, there was silence as both men turned the idea around in their heads, checking for flaws.
“I could help,” Shanice piped up from the bed.
They both looked at her.
“No,” Cruz said.
She looked crushed. “Why not?”
“Because I said so.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but Raheem interjected, “Actually, her suggestion kind of makes sense. If she goes in ahead of us and hits the alarm, she could leave with the crowd and disappear, then you and I could go up.”
“No. We stick to the plan I laid out. You set off the alarm, and I’ll come in as backup.”
“Cruz—”
“I said no, and that’s final. I won’t risk her getting hurt. We’re the professionals. If something goes wrong…” He stopped talking because his voice had thickened with worry.
“I feel like a burden. Let me help,” Shanice implored.
“You’re not a burden, and we can find something else for you to do.”
“Like what, Cruz? Sit here and wait until you come back? I want to do this, and based on the plan you laid out, having me help will make your life easier. If you have a third person set off the alarm, you can both be in disguise without having to change in the building, and then you’ll have less chance of getting caught. Let me help, please. Dennis was my friend, and I want these bastards to pay for what they did to him and for what they’re doing to these tenants. Let me do something.”
Raheem averted his eyes and became preoccupied with one of the open files on the desk.
Cruz dropped his feet to the floor and sighed heavily. Her impassioned, pleading voice was his undoing. When he spoke, his voice was heavy with the gravity of what they were about to do. “You get in and get out. You understand me?”
Her eyes lit up, and she nodded, but he didn’t like the idea of her going to Logan Investors one bit.
With reservations, Cruz said, “Okay, here’s the plan…”
From the doorway of the bathroom, Cruz watched Shanice. He’d hoped she would already be in bed. The room was small but seemed smaller with her standing half naked in the low light cast by the lamp on the nightstand. If he stretched out a hand, he could touch her soft skin and lose himself in her sweet embrace like he had earlier when they hugged goodbye.
His loins still ached from that brief contact, and watching her bent over the sofa, digging around inside her backpack, didn’t help. The curved underside of her backside peeked from beneath the hem of the shirt and made blood rush to his groin.
He’d almost followed Raheem out the door to avoid spending another night alone with her. He wanted her too much, and this close proximity didn’t help. He kept imagining her naked and reliving the night before when he’d fingered her. The only thing saving him from going crazy was his ability to compartmentalize, but he was having a hell of a time doing so.
Cruz rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he’d made a mistake by including her in tomorrow’s little project to break into the accounting office at Logan Investors. He