The Crown is Not Enough (Love on the Run Book 3) Page 2

  Hunter waved to show that he heard but continued jotting notes onto a notepad. Dani put her hand on the door to leave, then stopped as the pistol in her drawer came to mind. Maybe she should take it . . . no, it was better for Hunter to have it if someone showed up.

  Dani left the apartment and ran across the street to knock on the guard’s window. It slowly rolled down to reveal rather large man glaring up at her.

  “You were told to stay inside.”

  “I know. I need to go shopping. I have someone watching the crown.” Dani glanced around. “Can I get in? Or are you going to make me stay out in here in the open?”

  The man grumbled and climbed out. “Don’t make me carry you back in.”

  Dani narrowed her eyes and fold her arms. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “I would.” He swooped her up in his arms and threw her over his shoulder. “Carlie said to make sure you didn’t leave. She’s had enough of her team turn their back on her already and I’m not about to get fired because you wanted to go shopping.”

  Dani growled and fought but finally gave up. When he finally set her down, she kicked him in the shin. “Don’t pick me up again. I can walk.”

  The man chuckled. “Stay inside. Send us your list and we’ll get what you need.”

  Somehow she didn’t think she could phase him with the threat of personal hygiene like she had with Hunter. “Fine. But you better get the brands I want.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He stood there staring down at her.

  Dani rolled her eyes. “Give me your phone and I’ll type them in.”

  He pulled his phone and handed it to her. She typed out her list—adding chocolate and ice cream to her regular items—then handed it back to him.

  “The right brands. Or I’ll send you back.” She glared at him, but inside she was trying not to laugh. If she was going to be stuck inside, she could at least have fun with it.

  The man gave her an exaggerated bow, opened the door, then nudged her inside. “Don’t try to leave again.”

  Dani glared at the door and pushed it shut. “Jerk.”

  “Didn’t get too far, did you?” Hunter laughed.

  “Nope.” Dani dropped her bag next to the door and jumped onto the couch. “But the joke’s on him. I didn’t give him money to pay for my stuff, so he’ll have to pay for it.”

  Hunter grinned and pointed to his computer. “I think I figured something out.”

  “Really? I wasn’t gone for more than three minutes.” Dani walked over to where Hunter sat and leaned over his shoulder. Words were now associated with each of the symbols from the paper. “Wow. How’d you do that?”

  “You helped. I knew which languages to look at, so I just put together a code that would help decipher.” He typed a few more codes in and it ran another search.

  Dani pulled a chair closer to him and watched him work. “And you just know how to make these codes?”

  “Not just. It’s what I’ve done for the last several years and it took a lot of practice.” Hunter leaned back. “There.”

  A list of names and procedures appeared on his computer. Locations in England, Thailand, and dozens of other countries were followed by names.

  “So, Sarah just handed this off to the person who called?” No wonder she was so worried about doing something bad.

  “I don’t think she handed everything off. It’s like she said it was. Each of these is a different code and all those addresses and names were separate. The worst Sarah could have done is give the wrong name, and I don’t think it would have been an issue.” Hunter rubbed his chin. “What doesn’t make sense is that your name doesn’t appear anywhere on here.”

  Dani frowned. “So they had to have found me some other way.”

  “Or it was a total fluke and you got something that was meant for someone else.” Hunter ran through the list again before shaking his head. “Nope. None of the addresses match yours at all. Well, unless you count a one here and the Sunnyvale here. But yeah, we’ll have to keep looking.”

  Dani smiled. “We?”

  “Of course. You don’t think I’m going to let you do this on your own, do you? Besides, I have to make sure you don’t leave again so I might as well help out.” Hunter stood and stretched. “All right. Time for some football.”

  “Uh, no. My plan was to watch a movie with ice cream tonight. Everything else derailed, so I’m not missing out on my movie.” Dani stood and went to the freezer. “Oh dear. Good thing I told him to get more. I’m almost out.”

  Hunter shut his laptop. “What if we have ice cream while we watch football? Compromise and all that.”

  “Or you can choose the snack and still watch a movie.” Dani grinned and curled up on the couch. “I’m thinking the cheesier the better.”

  “You really know how to make a guy feel at home, don’t you?” Hunter grabbed his blanket and sat next to her on the couch.

  Dani grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels. “Ah, here we go.”

  Hunter raised his eyebrows as National Treasure came on. “Seriously?”

  “Dude, we have a crown in our living room that showed up mysteriously. If there was ever time to watch a treasure hunting movie, it’s now.” Dani set the remote down and grabbed part of Hunter’s blanket.

  He sighed. “Fine. Then we watch football.”

  “Deal.”

  H unter slowly moved away from the sleeping Dani and stood up. She’d fallen asleep halfway through the movie, her head resting on his shoulder. If only she knew what she did to him every time she touched him.

  Arizona State scored just as he walked past the TV to answer the door. He peeked through the peephole to find the guard standing at the door. He must have gone shopping in another state for how long it took him to get back here.

  Hunter opened the door and placed a finger on his lips. “She’s asleep.”

  “And you are?” The man glared.

  “Her neighbor.” He moved out of the way to let the guard in. Hunter grabbed the last of the groceries off the step, then closed the door. “Did you have trouble shopping for her?”

  Silence.

  “I can put everything away if you want to—”

  “Set them down. You can leave now.” The guard continued to unload the bags.

  Hunter’s eyes widened. “I’m not going anywhere. I told her I’d be here to protect her, and I plan to do just that.”

  The guard grunted. “You really think you can protect her from the people who are coming for this crown?”

  “I . . . yes. I can. Black belt in karate and all that. She’s safe.” Hunter noticed the list of codes on the table and scooted over to grab them before the guard saw them.

  “Right. And which school was that? Hunter?”

  Hunter narrowed his eyes. “How do you know my name?”

  “It’s my job to know everything about her.”

  “Why’d you ask who I was when you got here?” Hunter crouched just enough to grab the paper and notebook and shoved them in his back pocket.

  The guard raised an eyebrow. “You’re lucky I didn’t search you.”

  “Right.” Hunter glanced over his shoulder to where Dani slept. “Do you know yet where the crown came from?”

  “We have a few ideas, but nothing concrete yet.” The guard held a hand out. “Paper.”

  Hunter frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “You need to learn subtlety. A five-year-old could have done better sneaking that paper into their pocket.”

  “Oh.” Hunter handed it to him. “Carlie’s assistant brought that by. She was worried that she’d made a mistake in giving the wrong code to whoever it was that called.”

  “And you thought keeping this from me was a good idea?”

  Hunter hesitated. “Look, you don’t know me besides whatever information you found online. I don’t know you. I trust you about as much as you trust me. That woman in there has a crown sitting in her living room that was sent by some anonymous person. I thi
nk that is what we need to concentrate on.”

  The man nodded. “I agree. But gaining trust means not keeping this from me.”

  He scanned the paper and glanced over at Hunter. “You figured all this out on your own?”

  “Yeah, it’s kinda what I do.” Hunter grabbed the bags of pasta and put them in Dani’s pantry.

  “What else can you do on the computer?”

  Hunter shrugged. “Whatever you need. I’m graduating in computer science, but I’ve taken every other programming class I can take outside of this degree.”

  The man studied him before holding out his hand. “Xander.”

  “Hunter.”

  “Very well, Hunter. Keep an eye on her. But know that if anything happens to her, it’s on your head. We’ll be outside.” Xander handed Hunter the receipt. “And tell Dani she owes me.”

  Xander left soon after. Hunter set the receipt down and put away the rest of the groceries. When he was done, he pulled the crocheted blanket off the other couch and made himself comfortable. It was going to be a long night.

  Hunter flipped the pancakes and moved over to check on the sausage. Dani’s alarm went off and moments later, her head popped up from the couch.

  “I think I missed the movie.” She groaned and stood. “How long have you been awake?”

  “An hour or so. Figured you could use a good breakfast after the crazy day you had yesterday.” Hunter scooped the pancakes onto a plate and poured more batter.

  Dani grabbed some grapes from the fridge. “Wow, my fridge has more than mustard and old milk in it.”

  “Yeah, Xander came by after you fell asleep last night.” He caught her look of confusion. “The guard. His name is Xander. Oh, and he says you owe them for the groceries.”

  Dani made a face. “Oh well. At least I tried.”

  “Any word from Carlie?” Hunter slid the last of the pancakes and sausage on the two plates and set them on the table.

  Dani grabbed her phone. “Looks like she’ll be here in a few hours. Oh, and it looks like Dee is coming too.”

  Hunter raised his eyebrows. “They’re both coming? Things must be really serious then.”

  “I guess so.” Dani poured syrup over her pancakes. “I don’t suppose anyone is going to let me go to work today?”

  He shook his head. “Not if Xander has anything to say about it.”

  “I can’t just stay home, though. People are going to expect me to open the store.” Dani sighed. “Maybe if you come with me?” She batted her eyes. “Please?”

  Hunter pointed his fork at her. “Nice try. I don’t have finals, but I still need to get some work done on my computer.”

  “Which you can do at the store.” Dani stuck out her bottom lip. “Please?”

  “Don’t do that to me. You know I can’t say no to that face.”

  Dani grinned. “I know. I’ll go shower. You go figure out how to tell Xander that we’re not staying here.”

  Hunter shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth. Maybe she had a point. She couldn’t really keep the store closed or people would wonder what had happened to her—she never missed work—and the thought of keeping the crown and plates here made him nervous.

  The doorbell rang followed by a series of knocks. Hunter checked the peephole, then answered the door. So much for Dani going to work.

  “Hey, Dee. How’d you get here so fast?” Hunter moved out of the way so Dee and Ben could come in.

  “I got a message right after I hung up with Dani and booked tickets.” She headed for the kitchen. “Is this it?”

  Hunter opened the lid of the box so that Dee could see the crown. “We were just trying to figure out how to get Dani to work with this sitting here.”

  “She can go if she wants. I’ll be here trying to figure out if this really is the crown that Carlie’s been looking for.” Dee pulled out her laptop and sat down at the table.

  Hunter looked over at Ben. “Crown?”

  “Cleopatra’s. Carlie’s dad sent her off on another wild goose chase right after she found the necklace.” Ben set up his laptop next to Dee. “Xander tells me you broke Carlie’s code. Can you show me how you did that?”

  “Um, sure.” Hunter’s head spun. They didn’t waste any time getting to work. He wasn’t even sure if he fully trusted them.

  Dani came out of the back room toweling off her hair. When Dee stood up from the table, Dani threw her towel over her couch and grabbed her friend in a hug. “I thought I heard voices. It’s so good to see you.”

  “Hey, it hasn’t been too long since I was here last.” Dee pulled away. “You look exhausted. Is everything okay?”

  “It’s fine. I kept dreaming of people breaking into my apartment all night.” Dani gestured to the crown on the table. “Pretty amazing, huh?”

  Dee grinned. “Carlie’s going to flip out. I’m pretty sure this is the right one.”

  “That’s what I was hoping.” Dani glanced over at Hunter. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Only if you want to go. They just got here.” Hunter leaned against the couch so he wouldn’t be tempted to look over Ben’s shoulder. He had some kind of coding going that Hunter wanted to check out.

  Dani grabbed her purse. “I have someone coming in for me, but I need to help open the store for the day.”

  Hunter opened the door and let Dani leave first. He glanced back at Dee and Ben, but they were too deep into whatever they were doing to notice. Dani stood next to Xander’s car, her hands balled up in fists.

  “I don’t care what Carlie said, Dee is here now, and I have a life to live. If you’re worried about it, go in and watch them from there.”

  Xander’s glare turned on Hunter. “You really think it’s wise for her to leave her apartment?”

  Hunter’s eyebrows shot up. “Is there a reason why she shouldn’t? The crown is safe with Ben, who is your boss if I remember right.”

  “It’s not the crown I’m worried about. Someone knows where Dani lives and that should worry all of us.” Xander climbed out of the car and indicated several areas on the roof. “There are guards in each of those spots. We take our job seriously. You should as well.”

  Dani sighed. “Fine. Send one of your snipers with us. I just need to go to the store to open it. I won’t do anything stupid while I’m gone. Promise.”

  Xander ground his teeth before whipping around to his car. He pulled out a radio and barked an order into it. Moments later a man in black jogged out of the complex. “Have him with you at all times or there will be no more leaving the apartment. “Got it?”

  “Got it.” Dani snatched the keys from Hunter. “I’ll drive. I know a back way to work.”

  Hunter sighed and climbed into the passenger seat. The guard climbed in the backseat and stared straight ahead. This was going to be fun.

  Dani whipped out of the parking lot and took an immediate left into residential neighborhoods. “Do you think I should really be worried? Even if the crown is with Carlie or Dee?”

  Hunter caught the frown on the guard’s face. “This guy thinks so. And to be honest, they have a point. This whole thing is weird. Even having Dee showing up so early seems weird.”

  Dani stiffened. “Dee showing up doesn’t worry me. I’d trust her with my life.”

  “I understand that. You know her way better than I do. I’m just saying maybe they’re not telling you everything.”

  “Probably not. They know I want to stay out of their business.” Dani took a sharp turn. “Carlie has looked for this crown for a couple of years now. We knew it was in England, but it’s been hidden.”

  “And then it suddenly shows up at your door.” Hunter gripped the armrest of his car. He was going to have to insist on driving home. “Wasn’t England where Dee got the emerald?”

  Dani pulled into the parking lot of the antique store. “Yep. And Carlie apparently tried to find some clues while she was there, but they were taken hostage before she could find anything.”

  The gu
ard leaned forward. “I suggest you stop talking about any of this as soon as we leave this car.”

  Hunter nodded and opened his door to climb out. Dani let them into the store and went to the back of the store with the guard right behind her. Hunter turned on the lights and opened some of the blinds, then went to help gather the other jewelry displays.

  “Can you turn on the sign?” Dani broke a roll of quarters and dropped them into the register.

  Hunter flipped the switch and moved out of the way as customers flowed into the store. He shook his head. He’d never understand their love for antiques. While Dani greeted everyone, he took over the register.

  The computer with all of the inventory sat next to the register, and he was surprised to see that it was turned on. Usually Dani only worked on it after work or if there was a lull in customers. Hunter moved the mouse to turn off the screensaver and typed in her password. Business reports and several other files were open. Strange.

  Dani walked over with a grin on her face. “I sold the huge desk in the back. It’s about time—what are you doing?”

  “Did you turn this on?” He whispered.

  She shook her head and smiled at the customer in front of her. “When do you plan to pick up the desk?”

  The older woman searched her purse. “My husband will be here later this afternoon.”

  “Okay, I’ll make sure we have it ready to go.” Dani took the woman’s card and ran it, glancing over at the computer.

  Hunter minimized all of the windows and ran a search to see who had logged into the computer. He whistled under his breath when the search finished. Someone had accessed the computer around midnight two nights before, and then again early this morning. He typed in a few more keys and frowned. Whoever had done this had accessed it remotely.

  Dani thanked the woman and turned to Hunter. “What’s going on?”

  “Did you turn this off last night?”

  “I . . . I’m pretty sure. Yes. I did right before I dusted. Wait. There were updates that needed to download so maybe they kept it from shutting down?” Dani leaned closer. “Does everything look okay?”

  Hunter checked the updates. Several programs had uploaded, but then one had stopped. “Here. This one was canceled.”