"A scoop he got from...Yates." Not necessarily Rowdy Yates. Just a last name.

All this time, it was Pepper. And here he'd thought in the long run, he'd be helping her, freeing her from an inconsiderate brother.

Instead, he'd made her a target.

Thanks to him, she was now in more danger than ever.

REESE PACED OUTSIDE the door. What the

fuck? Logan had to be slipping to get in cahoots with Rowdy. Even now they sat together at the table in hushed conversation.

Sharing details.

Coming to conclusions.

Plotting...something.

Logan had actually locked him out!

Perturbed, Reese again looked in the small door window. The surveillance cameras were off. Neither man paid him any mind. What did it mean?

"Detective Bareden?"

Reese wanted to groan even as he turned to face Lieutenant Peterson.

"Ma'am?"

Her gaze was sharp enough to slice through his usual disregard. She gestured at his stance outside the door. "Playing guard dog?"

Which would be better-to let her think that or to tell her the truth, that Logan had excluded him? Choosing to be noncommittal, he shrugged.

"I want to talk to Detective Riske."

Reese smiled down at her-something he knew she disliked. She had the attitude of an Amazon but the stature of a runt, and it bothered her that he was so much bigger in every way. "I'm sure he'll be right out."

Her chin tucked in. "I'd like to talk to him now. "

Shit. Reese wanted to stall for Logan, to give him time to...what? Come to his senses and include him again?

Well, yeah.

"The thing is, Logan hasn't really had a chance to talk to Yates uninterrupted."

"Why not?"

"Because there have been...

interruptions." He gave her a "duh"

look.

Exasperated, Peterson folded her arms and glared at him. "Your attitude is bordering on insubordination, Detective." She gave him the look, the one that made most in the police force stop and reevaluate. "Maybe you need a little beach time to collect yourself."

Reese rubbed the back of his neck. He got that Peterson had to be a strong woman. But did she also have to be such a pain in the ass?

He had no choice but to spit out a fact.

"Rowdy's sister came to visit."

After a blank stare, she dropped her arms. "His sister?"

"Yeah. I take it they're close. She's the one Logan was schmoozing to get to Rowdy."

"I know who she is, damn it!" She narrowed her eyes in thought. "Why did she come here?"

"To see her brother?"

Her slim brows came down. "If you don't know, just say so."

"To see her brother."

A long sigh of impatience left Peterson looking deflated. "And did she?"

"What?"

Suddenly her temper snapped.

"You're doing it on purpose!"

Reese held back a smile. "Doing what?"

Jerking around, she paced a few steps away, then stormed back. A cold facade now hid her irritation. "I'm a nanosecond away from disciplinary action. In fact, few things would please me more."

"That's a pity." To his way of thinking, women should have many other pleasurable options. "I'm only trying to answer your questions."

Her smile was mean. "Detective Bareden, you will either open the door or get out of my way. Now. "

Gallant when it suited him, Reese moved to the side and gestured for her to do as she pleased.

She reached for the knob, turned it and realized the door was locked.

Once again on the edge of exploding, she said, "What, exactly, is going on here?"

"Since I'm on the same side of the door as you, I can't really say." He lounged back against the wall. "But I assume Logan will fill us in the moment he wraps it up." God willing, that'd be soon.

SQUEEZING HIS EYES SHUT, Rowdy said,

"The same people who murdered that commissioner when he wouldn't play ball also cut the reporter's throat to keep the story from going public. They're the same people who would kill anyone who knew the truth."

Including Pepper.

The puzzle pieces fit together to create a complete picture for Logan.

"When the reporter got murdered, you stepped in as the snitch? You encouraged everyone to think it was you."

"It was more believable that I'd have been the witness, so it wasn't hard to get that idea circulating. All I had to do was take off and my guilt was assumed.

Pepper objected, of course, but I figured...better me than her."

Logan agreed. "All this time..."

"I've done what I could to keep her safe. As soon as she told me, we booked. I used what cash we had to get alternate identities. With the cops involved, I didn't dare try catching a plane or even a train. I won the apartment building in a card game from an old guy who's since passed away. I got Pepper set up there, and then I kept my distance so no one else would stumble on the truth or try to use her to get me."

"As I did." Logan ran a rough hand through his hair. "You were good at covering your tracks. I spent a lot of time looking for you, doggedly chasing down every possibility."

"I figured most would look for a brother and a sister together. So I hid, and Pepper changed everything, her entire life."

"Her appearance." While Logan understood Rowdy's intent and the protectiveness that drove him, Pepper's life had not been ideal. She deserved so much more.

"I hate what this has done to her. I didn't know which cops were dirty or how high up the corruption might be. All I knew for sure was that those involved were cold-blooded enough to murder one of their own without a blink.

Disappearing seemed to be the only option."

"It probably was-then."

"And now?"

It was actually smart for Rowdy to lay low while hiding Pepper out in plain sight, not close to Morton, but not so far away, either. Even with all his resources, it had still taken considerable time for Logan to catch up with them.

"I can help."

"You've blown her cover."

Unable to deny it, Logan accepted that -and more. "She wanted me to tell you that you've done enough. That now it's her turn."

Pained, Rowdy looked away. "She was back to her old self?"

"I have to assume." Urgency drove Logan to his feet to pace. "I tried to keep her here, but-"

"Unless you find her and stop her, she'll move heaven and earth to try to end this."

"End it how?"

He rolled a tired shoulder, his expression ravaged. "She'll probably head to the nightclub to go after Morton.

It's the only way she knows to protect me." Rowdy narrowed his eyes. "The big question now is whether or not she'll actually trust you enough to let you help her."

Logan could say with certainty that she wouldn't. She was hurt, angry and adamant that he needed to be kept at a distance. He deserved that-especially after taking her brother, the most important person in the world to her.

The only person she could rely on.

Making up his mind, Logan pulled the keys from his pocket. "Together, we'll convince her." It was the only way he could think of to locate her and to keep her safe.

Whether he liked it or not, his priorities had all changed.

Number one on the agenda was protecting Pepper.

After that, he'd get Morton Andrews, and the dirty cops, and anyone else involved in the corruption.

Once Logan freed him, Rowdy flexed his hands and nodded at the door. "Want to tell me how you're going to get past that one? Because I don't think he's going to willingly look the other way."

Logan turned, saw Reese eyeing them through the door window, and said, "It'll be fine. Just follow my lead."

"Not like I have a choice." Rowdy followed him to the door. "But if you're wrong, if he hurts her, I'll kill him."

Logan didn't correct Rowdy. But if Reese hurt Pepper, Rowdy wouldn't get a chance to touch him.

Logan would take care of it himself.

IT MADE ROWDY EDGY enough to be in a