“Erin burned the poor fucker’s house down,” Polly explained, taking everyone but Derek and Connor by surprise. “He’s been renting in Florida since then. My guess is he thought a permanent residence in the city where Erin is dwelling would give him a better chance at the conservatorship.” Her smile was tight. “Probably even painted her room pink.”
Connor’s stomach pitched at the idea of Erin sharing four walls with that monster. “That won’t be happening. Derek, did you manage to block the request?”
The captain lowered the headset he was using to listen in on Sera’s wire. “For now, yes. But I’m her employer, not family. It won’t hold forever.”
“Right. I want a restraining order filed. Today.” Connor checked his cell phone to see if Erin had called. She hadn’t. “I’ll convince her to sign the paperwork, but it needs to go through immediately. It might tangle up his request to control her assets.”
Austin fell back against the van wall. “We all know you control her assets now, hey?”
“Watch it,” Connor said. “I was just beginning to tolerate you.”
“That makes one of us,” Bowen muttered beside him, before jerking his chin at Derek. “Has this motherfucker Stark shown up yet?”
“Nope.”
Connor shook his head when both of Bowen’s legs started to bounce. “So far, all the court has is Luther’s account of Erin’s mental state. But they have nothing from her. It needs to be on record.”
“He’s right,” Polly chimed in. “We need to stop playing defense.”
Connor nodded to let her know he appreciated her use of the word we.
Derek eyed him closely. “I’ve got a car outside his house, like you phoned me about last night. I’m not going to get a call informing me that you’ve shown up and gone inside, am I?”
He didn’t respond. One thing he’d never been accused of was being a liar, and he wouldn’t start today. Before he could discuss it further, Erin tapped on the van window. Calmness flooded his system like ice water as he opened the door for her, took the coffee in one hand and helped her in with the other. True to form for a van full of cons, not a single one of them had a guilty expression on their face, as if they hadn’t been discussing her a moment earlier. Well, everyone but Austin, who never wore anything but a smirk.
Connor set the tray of coffees in the center of the van floor and watched everyone converge while he pulled Erin down onto his lap. “Okay?”
She buried her nose against his neck and inhaled. The girl loved to smell him. He’d never given much thought to his aftershave before, but it had become top priority. “Yeah.”
Derek held up a hand for everyone to be quiet. Silence descended over the group as he listened to what was being said through the headphones. Bowen had gone still as death beside him. The captain hit a few buttons and removed his headset as Sera’s voice filled the van for all of them to hear.
A muffled shift against the speaker. “—to meet you, Mr. Stark.”
“My father is Mr. Stark. I’m just Max. Especially for the people working so hard to make my campaign a success.” A long pause before the politician said smoothly, “You’re so acquainted with my career, I feel like we know each other already.”
“Oh, fuck no,” Bowen growled, his hands curling into fists.
For the next hour, the group listened to a campaign staff meeting. From the sounds and explanations filtering through Sera’s wire, it was obvious some kind of PowerPoint presentation was taking place. Even Connor had to admit that Stark was an engaging speaker. He drew laughs from his audience even as he rallied them to work harder for his “noble” cause. It was enough to make Connor sick. Hell, there was suspicion he’d murdered Tucker May to silence the man. He didn’t want Sera, whose friendship he valued, to be anywhere near the sleazy asshole, either. When the meeting wrapped up, everyone in the van sat forward to see what would happen next. If Sera could get close enough to Stark, she’d been instructed to slip a listening and tracking device in his designer leather satchel. That task was what had Bowen ready to jump out of his skin. If Sera got caught, they would need to get her out immediately.
Stark’s voice came through distorted for a moment, then clear as a bell, calling Sera by her cover name. “Uh, Trish. Trish, right?” The sounds of chairs rolling back and a door opening, signaling the end of the meeting. “Can I have a word with you?”
The barest of hesitations. “Sure. Something I can help you with?”
“Oh, please. You’re doing enough. My assistant tells me you’ve brought in a record number of cold-call donations this week. How did you manage that? You’re so…new.”
Austin made a gagging sound. “The man is sorely lacking in anything resembling game.”
“Shut up,” Bowen bit off, yanking on the ends of his hair.
Sera spoke this time, sounding innocently pleased. “Oh, I was just friendly, I guess. My father always said the best way to make a sale is to listen first.”
“Wise words,” Stark murmured. “Listen, I’d love to take you out to lunch. Just to say thank-you.”
Bowen lunged for the van door.