Run the Risk

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 packed police station, but to have to trust Logan to guard his sister, too? That was asking a lot.

Never mind that Logan Riske maybe had valid, very personal reasons for tracking him down. And the detective did seem to genuinely care about Pepper, and vice versa.

In Rowdy’s experience, cops were not his friends, period. They protected the ordinary people, the middle class, the privileged few—and each other.

Those forced to take drastic measures to survive? They were a nuisance at best, disposable at worst. In his lifetime, he’d been referred to as a troublemaker, a bottom feeder. To ensure he and Pepper stayed together, he’d spent years skirting legit jobs. Once she was of age, he’d still felt compelled to keep her as close as possible.

Didn’t take a genius to figure out what drove him; at an early age, he’d lost everyone and everything important in his life—except for Pepper. She was it for him. Numero uno. His entire world. He’d die for her.

And he’d kill for her.

But God Almighty, he’d never wanted her to feel the same.

He and Pepper had spent their lives trying to steer clear of the criminal element and cops alike. Neither fit into their lives.

Survival. That’s all they’d really wanted. Enough shelter, enough food, comfortable clothes, occasional entertainment.

Safety. Security.

And for him, a warm, willing woman when the past weighed too heavily on his brain. He needed nothing else.

He definitely didn’t need the steel-eyed official-looking gal now showing her disdain.

“Detective Riske?”

They stood clustered outside the interrogation room. It was clear that Logan hadn’t counted on running into the woman.

Angry tension all but vibrated off her petite frame. She was more than a little pissed and not succeeding much at hiding it.

With worry for Pepper prodding him, Rowdy considered making a run for it. But more than a few cops stood between him and freedom. If he ran, they would assume him guilty of something—and he was. Hell, he was guilty of all kinds of shit. Not all of it was illegal, but that probably wouldn’t matter much in the big scheme of things.

Not in a police station filled with guys who got a stiffie over carrying a piece. To him, it seemed that most cops were trigger-happy and waiting for an excuse to exert their limited clout.

If he got himself locked away again, who would save Pepper from herself?

Reese spoke up. “Lieutenant Peterson had hoped to join the interrogation, but, ah, Logan, you’d locked the door, so…”

Lieutenant? Huh. Rowdy surveyed her and had to be impressed.

Fury brought her forward so that she faced them all, one small woman challenging a trio of big men.

Yeah, he was sexist. Not the worst of his faults.

In a clipped but icily polite tone, she ordered, “Gentlemen, back inside if you please.”

For someone so diminutive, Rowdy noted, she carried herself with enough brass to back up the attitude. She strode into the room he and Logan had just vacated, and then stood there with the door open, waiting for them to join her as ordered.

Damn it, they did not have time for this.

Reese went in first, and Logan, the mistrustful bastard, stayed at Rowdy’s back until he entered.

“So.” She shut the door, crossed her arms and leaned back on it. “What is this?”

Reese looked at Logan. So did Rowdy.

“I don’t have enough to hold him.”

Her mouth firmed. “Did he tell you who killed the commissioner?”

“Apparently that story was blown all out of proportion by the reporter,” Logan lied. “He didn’t see much and remembers even less.”

“But the reporter—”

“Must’ve jumped the gun,” Rowdy interjected. “He offered to pay me for info, and I agreed. But he never came back, so I forgot about it.”

Unconvinced, the lieutenant narrowed her eyes. “The breaking and entering? The apartment you were using?”

“He just wanted to see his sister,” Logan said. “And since he wants to be helpful now, I’m letting that go.”

“I really do,” Rowdy told her, trying to sound sincere when every beat of his heart made him more anxious to get on the move. If he didn’t find Pepper soon, she’d get in over her head—or worse.

But first, he had to win over the lieutenant—so he’d turn on the charm and see where that got him. Not a hardship. She was sort of cute in a buttoned-up, too-rigid way.

When next the lieutenant glanced at him, Rowdy gave her his wickedest, most intimate smile.

Her attention snagged on him for a longer look. After a lengthy silence, she frowned. “And just how do you think to help?”

Since he had no clue what Logan wanted him to say, he shrugged. “However I can.” The way he said it, sort of low and suggestive, brought color to her face.

Reese coughed.

Logan stepped in front of Rowdy. “We’re going back to the apartment to go over the time line, dig out what paperwork I have on my computer, see if there’s any trail at all. We’ll try to match up dates, share some photos with him, and see if he recognizes anyone who was with Jack right before he was murdered.”

The lieutenant considered all that. Her big blue eyes met Rowdy’s again. “You worked at the club?”