Page 90 of Swerve (Boosted Hearts 1)

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Ruby

I hunkered down beside the warehouse, across the street from the abandoned hotel building I’d scoped out with Harry earlier that day—only this time it wasn’t abandoned. I hadn’t seen anyone arrive or leave, but when I’d gotten there, there was light coming through the cracks in one of the boarded-up windows on the second floor.

The streetlights directly outside the building were out, smashed, and I guessed this was on purpose. There was some shady shit going on in that building, no doubt. And as much as I wanted to crack this case wide open, I wasn’t going to do something reckless. At this point, our aim was to ID the main players so we could nail these fuckers and close them down.

“I’m taking a closer look,” Harry said. “Keep a look out and text me if you see anyone.”

I nodded.

Ducking low, Harry sprinted across the street and down the side of the building.

There was so much that didn’t add up about this whole thing. All we had to go on was what Harry’s informant told us about the note I found on Scott’s body—that some creep with a thing for watching brunettes on porn sites was meeting with the fuckers that ordered Scott to put cameras in my room. All the hypothetical reasons we could come up for this meeting were more than a little terrifying.

A shiver arrowed down my spine . . .

A car turned onto the street, headlights lighting up the road.

Fuck.

They’d see me if I didn’t take cover. Keeping my back against the warehouse, using the shadows, I moved as quickly as I could to the rear of the building and waited for the car to pass. But it didn’t. I heard it pull to a stop, the engine cutting off. I peeked around the edge. A car was parked outside the building.

I slid my phone from my back pocket, ducked back, opened my contacts, and hit Harry’s number.

“Yeah?”

“Get the hell out of there. Someone’s here.”

The sound of doors opening and closing echoed from the other side of the street.

“Shit.” Harry disconnected.

If I stayed back here, I could be missing something vital, something that could lock these assholes up. I couldn’t risk missing something important. So I eased up the way I’d come, back to my spot, against the front, right side of the building, giving me a clear view of the building across the street but keeping me concealed in shadow.

I took a better look at the car. It was black, expensive looking, with dark tinted windows—yeah, nothing ominous about that at all.

The driver’s door opened and a man climbed out and opened the back for whomever he was driving. Another guy got out, average height, wearing a dark suit. There was nothing standout about him, but something about the way he held himself screamed money, self-importance.

Edwards.

Maybe.

They headed to the main doors and the suit pulled something out of his pocket as he walked. A key obviously, because he unlocked the large padlock holding the door closed a second later and they both disappeared inside.

Shit. Where the hell are you, Harry?

I was trying to decide what the hell to do when another car rolled up. This one nothing special. A blue sedan, a few years old.

Two people climbed out. I couldn’t get a clear view of them, but they were talking, their voices a low murmur. One deep, the other higher, a woman.

They went inside as well.

I cursed under my breath. Harry must be hunkered down somewhere out of sight. God, I hoped so anyway.

I stared across at the building, down the side, into the darkness, hoping like hell Harry would appear any minute and give me some indication that he was okay. Fifteen minutes ticked by and nothing. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Harry could be in danger, could be hurt, I need to call in backup . . .