Page 55 of Obey

But I don't have enough information to connect those events, either.

"Do we know how Donovan and Lane knew each other?"

"Not yet."

"And their connection to Sloane?"

"Beyond her posting bail, nothing I can verify."

I close the folder.

"All right."

Sergio studies me. "You want me to keep digging?"

Every instinct tells me yes.

I want to know who Preston Lane is, why Trey Donovan was arrested for assaulting him, and what the hell happened to Sloane three nights earlier.

But the medical record sitting on my desk is already more than I had any right to see.

"No," I tell him. "Not right now."

He nods and rises.

"And Sergio? That hospital report doesn't go into our security system."

"Understood, boss."

After he leaves, I sit staring at the closed folder.

I asked him to investigate a four-year gap in Sloane's employment history. Instead, I've uncovered an assault case, a judge traveling across state lines, and evidence that she spent a night in the hospital with injuries nobody seems to have explained.

None of it tells me what happened.

But I remember Sloane pressed against the glass in Nate's office. Her trembling hands. The panic in her eyes when she pulled away from me.

I'd wanted an explanation for that fear, but now I have more questions than when I started.

By the time I reach the penthouse, I find Nate and Jace in the living room.

Nate has his laptop balanced on the arm of the couch, Jace stretched out beside him with his head resting in his lap. One of Nate's hands moves absently through Jace's hair while the other scrolls through whatever has his attention.

“We need to talk.”

“About?” Jace asks without looking up from his phone.

“Sloane.”

Nate's fingers pause in Jace's hair.

“I had Sergio look into her background.”

That gets their attention. Nate closes his laptop, and Jace sets his phone aside.

“What did he find?” Nate asks.

I tell them about the apartment, the assault arrest, and the hospital visit three days earlier. About Sloane posting bail for Trey Donovan and her father flying in from Louisiana before the charges were reduced.