Mind Thief Read online

  She smiled. “Thank you for inviting me. I could use the distraction.”

  His expression darkened. She knew why—she’d developed some bruising, thanks to her alley encounter and Carlson’s punch. Hearing a woman talk about an attack was one thing, but seeing the evidence was another. He put his hand on her back to steer her toward a vendor selling Demons clothing.

  “Let’s get you a hat. Everyone’s looking at me funny, like I’m the one who punished you for being a bad girl.”

  Quinn chuckled. Yet, despite being used to coarse male humor, the joke seemed a little off. She couldn’t help but think Noah would never say something like that. Then again, Devin was different, and part of her liked that about him.

  Soon, Quinn wore a baseball cap like everyone else, and she was grateful for the partial camouflage. Especially since she had no idea if her enemies were there that night. It was paranoid, sure, but Quinn learned that maybe a little paranoia was justified.

  They found their seats and the game began. Quinn was rusty on the rules, but Devin gave her a quick rundown and it all came back pretty quickly. After an inning or two, Quinn found herself enjoying the game—the easy pace, the crack of the bat hitting the ball, the crowd cheering when a Demon got a base hit or caught a foul ball. She understood now: it was a dome-shaped, air-conditioned escape from the realities of life in El Diablo.

  There were times when she felt Devin’s eyes on her. Like he was trying to decide if he liked her, or whether she liked him. He’d grown on her, but there was a distance there, like he didn’t get close to people easily. She could relate to that. He didn’t have the effect on her that Noah had. Then again, that hadn’t turned out so well.

  “You alright?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “That was a pretty big sigh.”

  “I’m fine.”

  Soon, Quinn decided she was thirsty.

  “I’m going to grab a drink. Want anything?”

  Devin shook his head. Quinn headed up the stairs, keeping her eyes out for anyone staring too long or any sudden movements from the crowd. It was a difficult task with a crowd this large, which was why she chose to go during the inning, where she would encounter fewer people.

  She went to the restroom first. On her way out, she halted when she saw someone unexpected. There, leaning against the wall, was Noah.

  Quinn’s heart began to pound, her hand immediately heading toward her groin, where her energy weapon lay hidden in its holster. Another brilliant thing about the illegal weapon: it was impervious to routine security scanners.

  “I’d keep that thing hidden,” Noah said. “I could get you four years easy just for bringing it to a game.”

  “What do you want?” she growled at him.

  “You know what I want.”

  “I already told you I’m not interested in being your fucking snitch.”

  “I didn’t ask whether you were interested.” He took a step closer to her. She knew that move, the “I’m bigger than you and want to see if you’ll back down” move, classic among Downtownie men.

  She had few options. She could back away and create the space she needed, but that showed weakness. She could stay put and let him closer to her, risking that he’d pull a sudden move, rendering her unconscious and in his clutches again, with the expectation that he wouldn’t make the mistake he did last time.

  She did neither. Instead, she did the craziest thing possible.

  She stepped closer to him. So close that she could feel Noah’s body heat, smell the faint odor of his natural musk, the one she’d enjoyed many times, back when everything was different. Her eyes were locked with his, and she didn’t look away for one moment or even blink.

  It had the effect she’d hoped for. Noah froze, his eyes locked with hers and his breathing a little too still. She leaned close to him and spoke, putting her hand softly on his arm.

  “I know how much you love to win. And I’ve always admired that about you.” She smiled. “But you know me, and you know I will never let you control me. And something tells me that, deep down, you don’t really want to.”

  Noah grabbed her so suddenly and with such ferocity that she let out a gasp. His dark eyes glimmered in anger, and when she tried to pull away, he held on.

  “Let me go,” she hissed.

  Suddenly, she was free. Someone had shoved Noah away. It was Devin, his jaw set as he stared Noah down. Noah stared back, blinking in surprise for a moment before he quickly recovered.

  “Back off,” Noah growled. “This is police business.”

  Devin looked Noah up and down. “Then where’s your badge?”

  Quinn intervened. “It’s okay, Devin. Noah and I were only catching up, and he was just leaving. Right?” She eyed Noah.

  Noah pulled out a badge and flashed it at Devin. “Miss Hartley and I have business to discuss, so walk away.” When Devin didn’t comply, Noah took a step toward Devin, attempting the same move he’d tried on her.

  Devin didn’t budge. Instead, he held up his phone. “Well, Officer Asshole, I’ve got a pretty good video of you assaulting her. I’m sure my friends in the media would love to get their hands on it.”

  “Blackmailing an officer isn’t going to help your case,” Noah said.

  Devin only stared, and the coldness of that stare gave her chills. For a moment, she forgot he walked with a limp and wondered if he would attack Noah. But he didn’t. Instead, he grabbed Quinn’s hand, nudging her toward him and away from Noah. “Go fuck yourself.”

  Quinn followed as Devin led her away. Her heart was still pounding. She glanced back, afraid Noah would come after them and create a scene. But he didn’t. He just stood there, glowering at them, and she knew she hadn’t seen the last of him.

  Back in their seats, drinks in hand, Devin said, “You in trouble with the cops?”

  “No. Just that particular one.”

  “Were you two involved?”

  Quinn hesitated. “Yes. Before.” She didn’t want to admit that, but Devin had proven he could stand up to Noah’s intimidation, and now she had a witness in case Noah’s tactics grew worse.

  “If he’s violent or abusive, you need to—”

  “He’s not. We just… had a misunderstanding.”

  She wondered at her choice of words. Thus far, Noah had stalked her, drugged and abducted her, grabbed her. But maybe tonight was a good thing. If Devin really did have friends in the media, his threat might ensure Noah left her alone.

  She hoped so. As much as Noah was pissing her off, she didn’t want to turn on him like that. She’d never turned on Wyatt, despite the many questionable things he’d done, despite the fact a little jail time might have corrected Wyatt’s ways or even saved his life. It wasn’t the Downtown way.

  She only hoped Noah wouldn’t force her hand.

  Later that day, Quinn sat in her comfy chair, sipping a diablo. After the game, Devin had walked her to her door and asked to come inside her place. She declined. He tried to hide his disappointment, but she could see it.

  Part of her wanted to let him in. Devin had been nothing but helpful—helping her after the mugging, taking her to a game, intervening with Noah. But there was a wall there, one she couldn’t get past. And she knew why. Her profession—and her life—had turned her into someone unable to get close to anyone. The cost of doing so was too great. She’d lost her mother, lost Wyatt, and the closest she’d come to anything promising since had devolved into a power struggle between two determined people on opposites sides of the law. Again, she thought of Jones’s confession about feeling lonely. It was something she’d long learned to accept, but at that moment it seemed harder than ever.

  Her phone rang. Quinn glanced at it, praying it wasn’t someone looking to torment her again. She sighed with relief when she saw it was Jones.

  “Hey,” she said. “What’s up?”

  “We got another chance at Carlson.”

  “When?”

  “Right now.”
/>   Chapter 18

  “Game time,” Quinn muttered to Jones, who stood next to her in the alley filled with broken glass.

  Quinn peered into her viewing device, the one that allowed her to see around the corner. Even though the daylight was fading, she spotted Jake Carlson turn onto 20th Street. He was headed their way, and would pass by their alley in less than a minute, en route to a visit with his parole officer.

  Jones had tracked Carlson’s phone calls and managed to intercept part of one where he and his parole officer planned their meeting. It was a rare opportunity to catch him alone, rather than in a bar filled with witnesses. They had little choice but to do an old-school snatch-and-jack right there in the alley, with Jones keeping watch.

  Another thirty seconds and Jones would strike, sticking Carlson with the sedative and pulling him into the alley in one quick swoop.

  “Half a block,” she said.

  Jones rustled around behind her before he drew closer to the alley entrance, waiting.

  Then, she saw it. The one thing she didn’t want to see.

  Noah.

  He wasn’t far behind Carlson, walking down the street in a Demons hat and sunglasses, like he was on a mission.

  “God damn it,” she said through her teeth.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Noah.”

  “Seriously?” Jones hissed.

  She let out a breath and pushed Jones away. “Get out of here.” When Jones hesitated, she whisper-yelled, “Go! You can’t risk it! I’ll deal with him.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Jones turned and ran deeper into the alley until he disappeared. Quinn backed away from the street and hid behind a dumpster. She hunched down and extended her device. A moment later, Jake Carlson skulked on by, his hands balled into fists, as if waiting for someone to jump him. Quinn stuffed her equipment into her pockets, grabbed her weapon, and headed to the establishment next door. Where there were witnesses.

  Once inside, she realized it was a sex shop. She headed to the corner, where she was surrounded by a display of giant dildos. When Noah appeared, as expected, he joined her and glanced around.

  “So this is your thing, huh?”

  “What the fuck do you want?” she growled.

  “Why so angry? Did I foil your chance to grab Jake Carlson?” She must’ve shown some surprise, because he smiled, showing just a hint of those dimples. “Mr. Carlson called us to report a suspected mindjacking attempt at a little joint in Coyote. The description of his attackers sounded very familiar. Plus, I figured only you would be crazy enough to go after an ex-con in a place even I would hesitate to go in.”

  “You have no real evidence it was me, and you know it.”

  “I have two witnesses who described your face and build, one of whom said you carried brass knuckles. Seems that’s your signature. I saw the damage you did to those men at Linden’s place, and it was obvious a pair of knucks broke the jaw on one of them. Not to mention a short but distinguished list of knuck-induced busted jaws and broken noses, all taking place Downtown by women whose descriptions all sound very similar…”

  He had her there. But again, the evidence was circumstantial at best.

  “I’m sick of this shit, Noah. You need to quit stalking me, or else you’ll force me to resort to desperate measures.”

  “Oh yeah? Like what?” He crossed his arms and waited.

  “Try me and find out.”

  “I’m not going to stop until you give me what I want. Because like you said, I really, really like to win.” His eyes shot daggers at her. “The real question is, if I were to cuff and search you right now, what would I find? Would I find a mind reader and nodes? Data storage devices? Other paraphernalia that would implicate you?”

  Dread fell over her.

  Noah went on. “That’s all I need to bust you, Quinn. I don’t need any of the other circumstantial evidence I have on you—which is growing by the day—although it wouldn’t hurt my case one bit. And before you say it, any dirt you have on me is more than cancelled out by what I’ve got on you now.”

  Fear coursed through Quinn, and then turned to anger. “You are such a fucking hypocrite! You’re no better than I am and you know it. The only reason you’re leaning on me isn’t because of some bullshit need for justice, it’s because you want to hurt me.”

  “Why would I want to do that?”

  “Because I hurt you. You liked me, and I hurt you. I’m the one goddamned thing you hate because of what happened to your father, and you keep hoping that messing with me will make it all go away. But it won’t. You can’t scapegoat me for someone else’s crime.”

  Noah’s eyes flared with anger. “Don’t try that shit on me, Quinn. I invented that.” He stepped closer to her. “And don’t ever bring up my father.”

  When a customer approached, she took one look at Quinn and Noah and backed away.

  “Why not?” she hissed. “What happened to your father is terrible, Noah, but if you had any damned clue about the people you hunt, you’d know that no mindjacker would ever do that to someone. That was a mind thief—”

  “So you’ve said—”

  “No.” She pointed at him. “Listen to me. Mind thieves are dangerous and not like us—”

  “Who’s us?”

  Quinn stopped herself. She had to be careful. “What I do… there’s a code. You haven’t been able to nail people like me because we’re good at what we do, and we don’t hurt people! And my targets… they’re guilty one hundred percent of the time.”

  “So there’s honor among mind thieves, huh?” he scoffed. “It’s still wrong, rooting around in someone’s fucking head like that. And if you don’t know that—”

  “Oh, to hell with your pious crap, Noah. You’ve stalked me! You drugged and abducted me and you’ve threatened me—”

  “I’m allowed to do all of that!” he hissed back. “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a cop and mindjacking is felony!”

  “Really? You’re allowed to drug a female suspect, take her home, and tie her to your bed?”

  Noah hesitated. “I had to. I knew it was the only way you would listen to me, the only way to get through that stubborn head of yours.”

  “Listen to what?”

  He let out a breath. “I wanted to give you a way out, okay? Because if you keep this shit up you’re going to wind up in prison, or worse.”

  Quinn blinked at Noah’s honesty. “Look, Noah. I cared about you—”

  Noah shook his head. “I don’t want to hear it—”

  “It’s the truth. I cared about you. A lot.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Right. That’s why you hid the truth from me, about what you do. Knowing I would hate it.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “You did,” he said coldly. “You didn’t look surprised to see me that night in that Uptown alley. See, that’s when I figured it all out. That’s when I realized that during the entire Linden job I was chasing you. You knew before I did.” He stared at her. “So how long? How long did you know I was a cop?”

  Before Quinn could answer, he went on. “Never mind. I don’t fucking care because you’re evil, Quinn. All your kind are—”

  “If I’m so evil, why let me go that night?” Quinn pressed, knowing she pushed her luck about as far as it would go.

  “Because I was an idiot.” He pulled out his handcuffs. “Turn around.”

  Shit. Nothing she said had helped at all. There was no way she was getting out of this without resorting to extreme methods… methods that turned her stomach to consider. When Noah came toward her, she held out her hand to stop him.

  “They’re Black Jays,” she blurted out.

  Noah stopped. “What?”

  “The dead men in black at Linden’s… they’re called Black Jays. They’re an organized group of mind thieves. That’s why they wear those blackbird tattoos. They’re the ones you want, not me.”

  “How do you know this?”

&nbs
p; “I know a lot of things.” Noah gave her a look. “I can’t tell you that. But I can tell you Jake Carlson is the father of Elliot Carlson, the larger of the two men in black who died that night. The one with the busted jaw.”

  “How’d you find that out?”

  “Through a friend.”

  “Your partner? The tatted-up one?”

  She sighed. “Look. That’s a lot more information than you and your fellow officers could come up with, even with all your training and resources. This is a huge lead, Noah. Follow it up.”

  “You know the other stiff’s name?”

  “No. But he was a newbie among players, and my source said there’s not much on him.”

  “And you’re trying to nail Carlson so you can jack him and get information on your enemy.”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Then what exactly?”

  She couldn’t tell him. He would assume she was manipulating him, telling him about Carlson coming after her so he would feel sorry for her, and right now that kind of thing would only backfire. Plus, the last thing she needed was to confess to murder, with an illegal weapon no less. Noah suspected she killed those men, but he had no proof.

  “You have to give me more than that if you want to stay out of prison,” he warned.

  Quinn raised her chin. “Let’s get something straight, Officer Martinez. I gave you that information to prevent things from getting ugly, and to make up for… the past. Maybe I should have given it to you sooner. But under no circumstances will I be your CI, or let you put me under your thumb. We’re done here, and you’re going to let me walk away.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “You have some nerve on you, woman. I don’t even know if I can believe a word you say.”

  “Follow up on what I just told you. You’ll see it’s true, and it will open up a whole new avenue for you to pursue. The kind of avenue that could lead to something huge.” Noah still didn’t look fully convinced. “Even if I’m lying, you’ve made it clear you can find me and make my life difficult. You can keep on torturing me and trying to catch me in the act—which you’ll never do—or you can take the gift I just gave you, see it through, and who knows… maybe there’ll be more in the future.”