CUL-DE-SAC (On The Edge Book 1) (42 page)

CHAPTER 51

There were days Gabriel Mercer liked his
job and there were those he would rather do anything else. He liked to think he
had a vivid imagination, although he wouldn’t say what this
‘anything else’
could possibly be.

On the list of things he
didn’t like,
a friend trying to lie to him would probably take one of the highest places, he
decided, looking at the woman sitting in front of his desk.
“So let me get this straight. You may or may not be in possession of a proof of
an incident that might or might not be a crime,” he said.
“When you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous,” Catalina pursed her lips.
“I’m sorry, is there another way to put it? Please do share.” He mocked and she
rolled her eyes.

Her life was suddenly filled with
overbearing males trying to take over.
“If you could just run the picture through your database…”
“I won’t use police resources for something when I don’t even know what I am
looking for.” He cut her off.
“I don’t remember you ever being so radical and unbending before,” she
complained.
“Compliments will get you nowhere, Catalina. Besides, I remember you used to be
straightforward and honest with me. Now stop offending my intelligence and tell
me what it is all about,” he suggested.
“I have a picture of a… of an injured young man, it looks years old and I want
to know if it’s possible to match a name with the face.” She couldn’t force
herself to say ‘dead’.

That, and somewhere during those long
sleepless hours of the night, she started to wonder, what if the man wasn’t
dead at all? Was it even possible or had her sleep-deprived mind started to
play tricks on her? Catalina wondered.
“Show me the damn picture!” He demanded.

She sighed, pulling the image from her
purse and handing it over. Her stomach stopped rolling angrily at the sight of
it because she no longer perceived it as a proof of a crime, looking at it from
a strictly technical point of view.

And she really wasn’t sure there was a
crime to begin with.

She sipped her coffee, thinking that it was
a matter of time before her hands started to shake from too much caffeine and
her body would give in to exhaustion.
“You know I have to ask where you got it from.” He narrowed his eyes at her.
“Someone sent it to me.” It wasn’t that much far from the truth, she decided.

She had a lot of time to think about the
best approach to the problem, and in the end she determined it would be well-advised
if she stayed as close to the truth as possible.

Everything else aside, Gabriel was a friend
and she didn’t want to damage this relationship anymore it already had been.
“Just like that?” He sent her a look that said it all.
“Just like that,” she agreed.
“Cat, you might get yourself in a shitload of trouble if you are hiding
something from me. Now let me ask you; what does he have to do with it? What
did he do?” His lips thinned with displeasure.
“Nothing,” she said fast.

Everything
, she thought.
“Someone sent it to me because you are not the only one who doesn’t approve of
my relationship with Alexander. I could have gone to my friend in the FBI, but
I thought of you instead. Please tell me I didn’t make a mistake and that I can
still count on you, as you’ve promised me earlier.” Catalina looked him
straight in the eye.
“Fuck! Way to use my own words against me. Fine, I will run it through our
application and we will see if it is going to find anything in the facial
database. I am not promising anything, though; it can only detect someone who
is already in our system. If he had never had a run-in with the law, then we
are back to square one,” he warned.
“Promise me one thing; that you will…”
“Keep my mouth shut no matter the result because it’s personal?” He didn’t let
her finish.
“No, keep your
mind open
and don’t make it more personal than it already
is,” she corrected coolly and he swore under his breath again.
“I will call you if I learn anything,” he got up, letting her know their
meeting had come to an end.

***

Xan could have never imagined that one
night might drag ass as much as the one he barely made through.

The sparring session with Kelton turned
into a brutal skirmish, leaving them both bloodied and battered. Yet he was
still feeling restless, and nothing mattered to him more than talking to
Catalina.

He wanted to call her more than a dozen
times throughout the night and early morning but he didn’t want to give her a
choice not to answer.

When he faced her, he wouldn’t walk away
until she heard all he had to say, he decided. If that sealed his fate as
ruthless and uncompromising, so be it.

It was too important to leave anything to a
capricious bitch called fate.

But before that could happen, life decided
he apparently didn’t have enough on his plate yet and threw him another curveball.

In Xan’s mind, the deal on the building
they wanted to shape into a fighting school was as good as done. Sadly their
morning meeting at the bank proved otherwise.
“What the fuck just happened?” He wanted to know not even trying to hide his
growing anger.

The loan officer looked at him warily and a
moment later, Xan felt Kel’s hand on his shoulder.
“Calm down, Jason here was about to tell us, right?”
“As I was trying to explain, there is another person interested in the
property. It is possible the owner is trying to stall in order to hoist the
price.”
“We’ve been over this already. Besides, we had an agreement,” Xan drawled out
through clenched teeth.
“I think it’s best you talk to the owner,” the banker suggested.
“Thank you for your time,” Kel said. “We will be in touch.”

It was relatively easy to trace down the
owner and as much as he was reluctant to share any details, Xan’s grim
expression made him give out one name: Bennett.

Apparently Florence wasn’t joking and
didn’t consider ruining his relationship with Cat as a punishment enough, he
thought. She wasn’t letting go until she
ruined
him.

He supposed it made perfect sense; learning
what your opponent wanted and then not letting him or her achieve it was the
best kind of revenge. He could respect that, even if he had no intentions of
tolerating it.

Maybe in her world it was a warning one
should take seriously and back off, but in his it was a challenge one simply
didn’t leave unanswered. He wondered what her reaction would be if she knew she
just added a few new shiny layers to his already rock hard determination.
“What did she offer you?” He looked at the man.
“It’s more of what she implied might happen if I sell it to you. You might not
know it, but the name Bennett has quite a lot of influence on Santa Monica’s
life.”

Oh, he was aware of it alright, Xan
thought. But he was more interested in the influence one specific Bennett woman
had on his damn heart, and it wasn’t Florence.
“How about you sell it to me and not him?” Kel asked and Xan’s head snapped up,
because it was one of options he was entertaining too, even if it didn’t sit so
well with him.

He knew Kelton was involved in the project,
but it wasn’t his dream, not the way it was Xan’s anyway.
“Well…” The man’s lips pursed and he rocked on his heels considering it.
“Sit on it for a while and I will call you later, okay?” Kel offered and shook
the guy’s hand.
“Was that one of those binding handshakes that practically mean the deal is as
good as done?” Xan smirked when they were back in the car.
“He forces us to go through this song and dance again and he loses the damn
hand.” Kel muttered.
“And this is why we are friends,” Xan chuckled.
“I can cede half of it to you after we are done with paperwork,” Kel informed
him.
“I am not worried about that, I trust you, it’s just that…”
“It was your idea all along and you want to make it on your own as much as
possible. I get it, man,” Kel nodded.
“Yeah, something like that,” Xan agreed.
“Just drop me off at my place and go to your girl,” Kelton said.
“Have to swing by the gym first because I left my things there last night.”

However, fate was turning out to be a
maniacal fiend having its whole ill plans focused on him today, Xan decided, stopping
his car at the curb. He saw Noah Michaels leaning against the hood of his own
vehicle in front of the gym, clearly awaiting someone.

Xan knew he was that lucky someone, or
rather
un
lucky. Not that he had anything against the guy, but today was
already making him wrestle with his temper and it was barely half past nine
a.m.
“Dragon,” Xan said, skimming his gaze over the other fighter, noticing he
looked better than the last time he saw him.
“Do you have a minute?” Noah asked and Xan only sighed.
“Sure, are you up for a sparring match?” He looked at him again but what he
really meant was; did you get yourself back under control?

The last time he saw the guy, Dragon was
severely injured after the pounding he took at the club. He was barely standing,
yet claiming his readiness to go back to the activities that could have caused
him permanent damage.

Xan feared that was what lured him the most
because add to it alcohol and Noah was well on his merry way to completely fucking
up his life.
“Not today; I just want to talk.”
“Then talk,” Xan shrugged.
“You pissed me off that day you came into my house,” Noah started and Xan
wondered if they were going to have to spar after all or if the guy was heading
toward some kind of an apology.

If Dragon had the latter on his mind, he
sucked at it even worse than he did himself, Xan decided.
“I know,” he acknowledged.
“Thank you for that; I needed it so I could clean up my act.” Noah extended his
hand to him and Xan accepted it.

He knew how hard it was to hear an
unwelcome truth; he hated it himself with a vengeance, but sometimes no other
argument would do. He could also imagine how hard it was to come here and admit
to it. Pride hardly seemed like a virtue when one had to swallow it in order to
take the first step.
“And did you? Clean your act, that is?” He knew Noah did, he wouldn’t be here
otherwise, but some things needed to be said and heard to make them more real.
“Yes, you said you might have something for me,” Dragon looked as uncomfortable
as Xan would have felt himself in he had been in the other man’s shoes.
“I am opening a school…”
“I know; people are talking about it.”
“And what are they saying?” Xan raised an eyebrow.
“Some like it, some don’t,” Noah shrugged.
“I didn’t expect anything else. So, we will probably need some help with
running things. Are you interested?”
“Yeah, that would be great, but I can’t leave the club,” Noah said and his
fists clenched.
“That is your business.” He could relate to that, Xan thought bitterly. “You
never told me how you got mixed up in it to begin with?”
“I don’t think you would want me at your place if I told you that.”

Something in Dragon’s tone snapped Xan’s
attention, tugging at his own thoughts and memories.
“Why don’t you try me…?” He offered.

CHAPTER 52

Catalina didn’t feel like going back home
after her not-so-successful meeting with Gabriel. It was obvious their
friendship suffered due to her relationship with Xan, and it was yet another
loss on her side since the moment her warrior entered her life.

However, this time it was because of
jealousy and she found Gabe’s brand of it much more honest than all others. She
hoped Gabriel would shake it off with time and see that she was right all
along: they would have never been happy together. Their upbringing was too similar
and they were moving in the same social circles she needed to escape from, now
more than ever.

Cat didn’t think she had enough fight in
her to do that and at the same time battle with someone like Gabriel who didn’t
seem ready to turn away from the elite.

Xan didn’t ask for any kind of explanation,
probably wouldn’t care for it even if she felt the need to give it to him. He
didn’t try to change her or expect a certain behavior from her.

He accepted her the way she was and for
someone who had been taught to hide her true nature, it was the biggest gift
she could have ever received.

But she didn’t feel ready to face him yet,
either. Not before she could unravel the puzzle of those images and had
something to back up her crazy theory.

She took a moment to walk down the beach
and sit at her favorite café, enjoying the morning crowd and pretending to do
the same with her croissant.

That’s where the Lieutenant found her.
“You are lucky that you are not a criminal, because bringing you in would be a
piece of cake,” he said as he took a seat next to her.
“I didn’t realize I was so predictable.” She smiled at him.
“I’ve known you for a while; let’s say I had an advantage.” He winked at her
and handed her a manila folder.
“So you did find something.” Her fingers itched but she was not sure she was
ready for the truth, no matter how stubbornly she was chasing it down.
“I think it’s time you told me the whole truth, Catalina.” Gabriel sent her a
long look.
“The truth is… I don’t know much more and I was fairly honest with you.”
“Fairly?” He raised an eyebrow.

She didn’t know what to say to him, so she
opened the file and looked at another image clipped to a whole stack of papers.
The man’s face was nearly wholly covered in tattoos which created a pretty
scary effect, she admitted. She glanced at the police reports but didn’t go
into details.
“Who is that?” She wanted to know.
“Funny, I was about to ask you the same question. Also, how do you know him?”
“But I don’t.” She would have remembered his face, she admitted inwardly.
“This is the result of my search based on the picture you gave me, Catalina,”
Gabe told her and she looked down again, trying to see any kind of similarity
but simply couldn’t.
“Are you sure?”
“Do you know how facial recognition works in the first place?” He asked and she
shook her head in a no.
“In order for this software to work, it has to know how to differentiate
between a basic face and the rest of the background. It’s based on the ability
to recognize a face and then measure various features of it. Every face has
numerous, distinguishable landmarks and our system takes them into the
account,” he explained.
“Distinguishable landmarks?”
“It measures distance between the eyes, width of the nose, depth of the eye
sockets, the shape of the cheekbones, the length of the jaw line. All those
points create a special code we call a faceprint. It represents the face in the
database. Curves of the eye socket, bones creating nose and chin are unique and
don’t change over time. This is how there is no doubt this is the same man…
just years after. His name is Clay Forley aka The Wall, and he is a part of the
illegal underground fighting… just like Alexander Thorpe, Catalina.”
“I think it’s best you talk to Alexander yourself because I am as confused as
you are right now, Gabe. All I know is that he is convinced this man is dead,
apparently more people think so. Believe me; I want to solve this puzzle as
much as you do.” She looked him straight in the eye because at least that was one
hundred percent true.
“I think I just might… you know I am not fond of the guy, but I must admit that
beside his run-in with the law when he was a teenager, he had managed to stay
out of trouble after that. And trust me, I dug deep,” he said, and she wanted
to be angry at him but couldn’t.

“Alex is not nearly as bad as people think
him to be. You know he is opening a fighting school?” Cat knew the note of
pride in her voice was unmistakable.
“If you ask me, I think he has a higher chance of getting to those kids than
someone from the elite with their fundraisers and whatnot,” Gabriel admitted.
“Are you saying that charity doesn’t really work?” It was too close to Xan’s
opinion but she didn’t think he would have appreciated if she pointed that out.

Perhaps he was slowly changing his opinion
about Alex, but he was nowhere close of becoming his fan.
“I’m just saying he speaks the same language. I can see how that might work.”
He shrugged.
“Gabe, thank you so much for sharing this with me; if you will excuse me…” She
started to gather her things and was surprised when he laid his hand on hers,
stopping her.
“I could lose my job for it, Cat, but… you seem convinced he has nothing to do
with what happens in this club he belongs to. There is an ongoing investigation
about Tony Boden; tell Alexander to get his things out of Cul-de-sac as soon as
possible.”
“Are you saying…?”
“I’ve already said too much and… I still want to talk to him.” Gabriel looked
at her with a somber expression on his face.
“I will make sure he gets your message. Thank you… for everything.” She leaned
down and brushed her lips against his cheek. “And you… you should be careful
with Chloé; she is also not exactly who she seems.”
“I know, didn’t think you would see it though.” He admitted, making her gasp.
“You could have said something!”
“Would you believe me? Some lessons we need to learn on our own, no matter how
much they are going to cost us. Take care, Cat.” He watched her go thinking
that perhaps it was time for all of them to broaden their perspectives.