The Intelligence Unit Series

There weren't a whole lot of things that threw Ryan Dempsey off his game. After all, being able to jump both boots first into action, even in the face of grave f*****g danger, was what made him a good firefighter. Yeah. Maybe he was just a little bit rattled.

But of all the detectives in the Intelligence Unit, seeing the one who'd rocked his world three times in one night, then promptly ghosted him the morning after, standing on his sister's doorstep in response to his panicked call to the police?

Scraping for a deep breath, Ryan forced himself to get his shit together. Chloe needed help, and he'd do anything to keep his little sister safe. Including asking Addison for help, even if he was pretty much the polar opposite of happy to see her. "My sister is in danger," he said, stepping back to usher Addison into Chloe's apartment, then shutting and bolting the door behind her.

Addison looked no less shocked or upset than she had the first time he'd said it. In fact, she seemed pretty unbothered by his assertion, and Ryan bit back the urge to tell her for a third time, just to be sure she understood how serious this was. "Alright. Let's start at the beginning. Is your sister here?"

Ryan thought of how Chloe had been terrified to open the door for him less than an hour ago, and another wave of anger spiked through his blood. "She's locked in the bathroom. Some guy has been harassing her, and now he's stalking her. He's seriously lucky he was gone by the time I got here, because-"

"Okay, easy, Dempsey." Addison gave him that easy-breezy look she always wore, and for Chrissake, how could she be so calm? "Is she hurt?"

"No. God, I'd have called for an ambo if she was hurt."

"That's good," Addison said. "Did you witness any of the harassment?"

"No, but-"

One slim hand went up, the gesture softened by a professional smile. "And did you see or hear this guy threaten her?"

"Chloe told me what happened, and-"

"Is that a no?" Addison asked, so entirely unruffled that Ryan was half-tempted to scream. Some creeper was stalking his little sister, who had been frightened enough to call Ryan in a panic, then barricade herself in her bathroom. How could Addison just stand there like this was no big deal?

"No," Ryan said through his teeth, and Addison nodded, her blond ponytail brushing against her black canvas jacket.

"Okee dokee. I'm going to need to talk directly to her, then. Chloe, right?"

His heart vaulted against his sternum. "Yeah. She's really upset."

Finally, something resembling an emotion flickered across Addison's face, but it didn't last. "I understand. I'm here to help her, and if someone's threatening her, I want to get to the bottom of it. But in order to do that, I have to talk to her to find out what's going on, firsthand."

The words gave Ryan as much reassurance as he was going to get in the moment, and he turned toward the narrow hallway leading to Chloe's tiny bedroom and the even tinier bathroom beside it. The whole apartment was no bigger than a glorified closet, really, and damn it, maybe Ryan and his brothers and other sister, Grace, should've pushed harder for Chloe to live closer to at least one of them.

"Chlo?" he asked, knocking softly on the door. "My friend"-he stopped short. Reset. Then self-corrected-"There's a detective here who wants to talk to you."

Either Addison didn't notice his verbal pivot (not freaking likely, since she was, in fact, both conscious and within earshot) or she chose to ignore it. "Hi, Chloe. My name is Addison Hale. I'm a detective with the Intelligence Unit. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about what's going on, if that's okay with you."

A beat passed, then another, before the door unlatched with an audible click. Chloe slid it open a few inches, peeking through the sliver of space with red-rimmed eyes, and that was it. Ryan was going to throttle this guy.

"Hi," Chloe half-whispered, taking in the badge and gun at Addison's hip before sliding the door all the way open. The only sign of Addison's surprise was a single, slow blink, and if she was shocked that Ryan's sister was a blue-eyed redhead who bore zero resemblance to him, then she'd probably be f*****g floored to know one of his brothers was only seven months older than him, and that their other sister was Black.

But since Addison was hardly the first person to be surprised that Ryan and his four siblings only shared adoptive parents and zero DNA among them, he shrugged it off. "Chloe, it's okay. I promise, it's safe to come out."

Her gaze darted toward the small square of living space beyond the hallway, her shoulders loosening by a fraction as she saw the deadbolt he'd flipped back into place after Addison's arrival. "O-okay."

"Why don't we sit down someplace where you'll be comfortable," Addison suggested. Chloe gave up a micro-nod, her eyes downcast as she shuffled toward the living room. Ryan hadn't seen her this scared since she'd come to live with their parents ten years ago, and damn it. Damn it, Addison needed to find this guy before Ryan did.

Addison waited until Chloe sat in one corner of the little loveseat in her living room, letting Ryan park himself beside her before taking the last available option, a single chair across from Chloe.

"Can you tell me what's going on?" Addison asked, and just like that, Chloe's shoulders locked back up.

"I...I'm pretty sure this guy at my work is harassing me. Or stalking me, maybe? I don't know what to call it."

"That's okay. Can you describe what he's doing?"

Chloe gave up a shaky nod. "I work at Sweetie Pies. The bakery and coffee shop over by the hospital."

"I know it." Addison smiled. "Great cinnamon rolls."

"Yeah," Chloe said, her tension slipping by a fraction. "I'm working there part-time while I go to culinary school. About a month ago, this guy-Myles-came in while I was working."

Ryan's pulse hitched at the guy's name, but Addison just waited patiently, as if she and Chloe were talking about the weather or the Remington Rogues hockey season. For f**k's sake, she wasn't even writing any of this down.

"At first, he was nice. You know, friendly," Chloe said. "So, of course, I was friendly back. He introduced himself, said he was pretty new to the area, asked me if I knew a good Thai place. Stuff like that."

She broke off for a breath, then kept going. "He came in, like, three times a week. Always ordered the same thing. Black coffee and a cruller. It's a pretty standard order, but with our regulars, I try to remember what they like-you get better tips that way, and it's kind of nice. His order wasn't hard, so when he came in a couple weeks ago, I asked if he wanted his usual. I was just trying to be friendly."

"He took it totally out of context." Okay, so Ryan hadn't meant to interrupt, but the thought of how quickly the guy had misinterpreted Chloe's good customer service made him so goddamned mad.

Addison lifted a blond brow in Ryan's direction, the edges of her mouth turned into an uncharacteristic frown. "Were you there for that?"

"No, but-"

"Chloe, you can keep going any time you're ready," Addison said, and of course, he should've known she'd dismiss him. She hadn't even stuck around the morning after they'd slept together, for Chrissake.

"Myles got a little weird after that," Chloe confirmed. "He started showing up every day, lingering at the counter and trying to get me to take breaks so we could talk, just the two of us. I didn't want to be rude. I mean, he's a customer." She pressed her lips together. "So I told him that was against our policy and my boss would get mad. She wouldn't, really, but...I don't know. He made me uncomfortable. I should've just said something then. I didn't even say anything to Stephanie, my manager."

Addison shook her head. "If Myles is bothering you, that's his fault. Not yours."

Relief flickered through Chloe's eyes, but it didn't last. "That same day, maybe two weeks ago? I noticed he followed me on Insta. My stuff is public, but he liked and commented on every one of my posts after that." "How many, would you say?" Addison asked.

Chloe bit her lip. "I post at least once a day, sometimes more. Things I bake, selfies. Sometimes memes. You know. Regular stuff. So, probably fifteen? Twenty? But he didn't miss one, and he was the first to comment every time, almost as if he was sitting there online, waiting for me to post. It gave me a weird vibe. Then, three days ago, he was on my doorstep when I got off my shift."

Addison's spine straightened against the back of her chair, slightly enough that Chloe probably hadn't noticed, but Ryan sure as hell had. "I take it you hadn't told him where you live?"

"God, no." Chloe's voice trembled. "I'm really careful about it. I don't even let guys I'm seeing pick me up or drop me off until, like, the third or fourth date." "That's a really smart policy," Addison said. She didn't elaborate, nor did she push, and after a beat, Chloe continued.

"So, Myles showed up here. I don't know how he got inside the building-we aren't supposed to let anyone in. Delivery people aren't even allowed past the mail vestibule. You have to go downstairs to pick up packages and food and stuff. But he was right outside my apartment door with this huge bunch of flowers, saying he wanted to see me smile. I didn't know what to do. I was scared to open my door, because I didn't want to let him in, so I pretended I'd forgotten my keys at work. He offered to walk me back to get them, but I think he could tell I was getting upset, so he let me go. He made me keep the flowers, though. I threw them in the trash as soon as I got away from him."

Addison sat back, a crease forming between her brows. "Seems pretty pushy."

Ryan couldn't handle this for another minute. "He completely harassed her! And that's not even the worst part. Now he's stalking her." Turning to his sister, he said, "Tell her about tonight, Chloe. Tell her what he did."

Chloe paused, and God, Ryan hated this. She'd already been through enough in her life. "I had a class this afternoon. The culinary school is next to Remington University's campus, and it's pretty close, so I usually walk home. My friend, Eduardo, walked part of the way with me. We used to date last year, but we're just friends now-he has a girlfriend. He lives on Upton Avenue, so when we got to Ninth Street, he went toward his place and I went toward mine. He asked"-she broke off, her voice hitching-"he asked if I wanted him to walk me all the way home, and I said no. I'd never felt unsafe before. God, I was so stupid."

"You're not stupid," Addison said, before Ryan could. "The way you don't let your dates pick you up here, and how you didn't open your door when Myles showed up unexpectedly? That tells me you're actually very smart."

"I don't feel very smart," Chloe whispered, Ryan's chest filling with anger as tears formed in her eyes. "A few blocks after Eduardo and I separated, I noticed someone on the other side of the street, walking in the same direction that I was. It was Myles." "And you're sure it was him?" Addison asked.

Chloe nodded. "Very. It wasn't quite dark out yet. I saw his face, and he looked..."

She stopped as if the words had choked her, one tear slipping over her cheek as she said, "He looked really angry. He just kept glaring at me, like I'd done something wrong. Like...like he wanted to hurt me." Very calmly, Addison asked, "Did he say anything? Approach you at all?"

"N-no. But he followed me all the way here, and he never stopped glaring. I ran into the building and made sure the door was shut behind me so he couldn't get in. Then, I called Ryan, and he came right over." "And I called the Thirty-Third as soon as she told me what happened," Ryan said. He wasn't about to f**k around with anything less. Not when it came to his sister's safety.

Addison nodded, her gaze fixed on Chloe. "You were smart to call for help."

"So, are you going to go arrest this guy, or what?" Ryan asked, and a flash of annoyance moved through Addison's otherwise totally calm expression.

"It's not quite that cut and dried," she started, but nope. No f*****g way was that going to be good enough. Not with how scared Chloe was. Not with everything that had happened to her when she was younger.

"Are you kidding me? He needs to learn that following women around like this isn't okay! What he's doing has got to be considered harassment."

Addison aimed a smile at him that was all teeth. "Hey, Ryan, could I talk to you for a second? Privately?"

Surprise popped him in the gut, but he stood anyway. "Chloe, we'll be, uh..." He looked around the apartment, which was roughly the size of a Saltine.

"In the bathroom," Addison said, making her way down the hall and giving him no choice but to follow. The bathroom was barely big enough for the both of them, which meant they had to get pretty chummy for Ryan to close the door. The sugar-cookie scent of Addison's skin slid right into his bloodstream, reminding him that she tasted even sweeter than she smelled, and f**k. He really needed to forget that night they'd spent together. Clearly, she had.

"I need you to do me a favor," Addison said, her smile holding very little of her usual, bubbly happiness, "and chill out while I do my job."

"Are you serious?" Ryan's jaw went slack with shock. "This guy is harassing her, and you're-"

"Doing my job," Addison said. "Which means I need to ask questions and investigate before I slap handcuffs on anybody. And that's not easy with you all riled up."

He couldn't help it. He snorted. "Right. Sorry, I forgot. You're the queen of no big deal."

Addison stepped toward him in less than a breath, and even though he had a foot on her, her presence brimmed with power far beyond her size. "Please don't insinuate that I don't think this is a big deal. I'm a good cop, and it's insulting. Because I'm a good cop, I have to go by the book on this." Her green eyes glinted in the soft light of the bathroom, and holy shit, Ryan was far more turned on than was appropriate. "That means I need to check in to things and talk to Myles to figure out what's going on, and how to fix it." "So, you believe Chloe?" Ryan asked, his cheeks heating a little as Addison rolled her eyes.

"Of course I believe her. That doesn't mean I'm going to go off half-cocked and lose my shit. If I do that, and Myles is truly a threat, then he walks because I didn't follow protocol. Nobody here wants that."

Okay, fine. So maybe he'd gotten a little impulsive. But... "She's my little sister," Ryan said.

"I didn't miss that part," Addison said with a wry smile. "But here's the thing. Chloe's frightened. She's looking to you for support, and if you get all upset in front of her, she's going to get upset, too."

Ryan opened his mouth to argue, but shit. Shit. Of course, he couldn't. "I never really thought about it like that, I guess," he huffed.

"Most people don't. But I really need you to help keep her on the level while I dig into this, and that means I need you to stay calm and trust me while I look into this guy."

The urge to argue was still stirring through his gut. As much as he hated the idea of this Myles guy not getting scooped up ASAP, he knew Addison was right. "Fine." "Great. So, we're good."

Her eyes darted over his shoulder in a non-verbal dismissal. He supposed he shouldn't have expected anything else. After all, she'd been all too eager to leave him, naked and fast asleep in his bed, as soon as she could after their night together. He hadn't been picking out wedding china, or anything, but they'd been friends before that. The s*x had been pretty f*****g spectacular. He'd at least expected a goodbye. Or something other than the nothing she'd been giving up for the last two months. Whatever, Ryan thought, brushing it off and turning to walk back to the living room where Chloe sat. What was important now was his sister's safety. Anything that had happened between him and Addison might as well be ancient history. "Okay, Chloe," she said, her smile brightening as she returned to the living room. "Do you know Myles's last name, by chance? Maybe from a credit card receipt?"

She bit her lip in thought. "He always pays in cash, but I remember from when he introduced himself that first time. Myles Bishop."

"Great. That really helps," Addison said. "I'm going to look into this, for sure. You felt unsafe enough to call the police, and I don't take that lightly."

Chloe nodded. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome. In the meantime, is there any way you could stay with a friend tonight?"

Ryan's brows shot up. "Do you think she's unsafe?"

"I think that until I talk to Myles and see what's what, we really can't be too careful," Addison said, making sure she had Chloe's gaze on her own before she added, "but it's almost certainly just an above-and-beyond precaution, and I'm thinking it might make you feel better not to be alone?"

"You can stay with me," Ryan said, and Chloe managed the smallest fraction of a smile.

"No offense, but your futon sucks. I can go stay with Gracie and Patrick."

"Our other sister and her husband," Ryan said for Addison's benefit. "I'll go, too. It'll be good to see the kids, and anyway, I won't get much sleep unless I know you're okay."

"It's fine to tell them why you're there," Addison said. "I mean, I wouldn't go posting it on TikTok, or anything, but the investigation isn't a secret."

Ryan's laugh was more irony than joy. "Oh, good, because there's pretty much no way we'd keep something like this from Grace." Other than the most intimate details-which Ryan did not want to know about his sisters, at all, ever, thanks-the Dempseys were firmly of the mind that sharing was caring. Lou and Carleen had raised them that way from the minute they'd all crossed the threshold of their family home.

"Our whole family is pretty tight-knit," Chloe explained, and for the first time since she'd crossed the threshold, an actual emotion crossed Addison's face.

It was confusion. "Oh," she said. "Okay. Well, just try to lie low. I'd suggest changing the privacy settings on your social media. Are you working tomorrow?" At Chloe's head shake, Addison continued, "Good. Just keep your eyes open if you go out, and your door locked if you don't. This is my cell phone number." She passed a card over. "If you need me-for anything-you can call me. Okay?"

"Okay," Chloe said.

Addison took Chloe's contact information before continuing with, "And you"-she looked at Ryan expectantly-"are going to do exactly what we discussed, right?"

"Yes," he mumbled. "As long as you keep me in the loop, too."

"I'll call as soon as I have an update. I promise." Addison turned toward the door, looking back at him only once she'd reached the threshold, the front door half-open and her body half-gone. "Just do me a favor, please, and don't do anything that will make me arrest you."

Ryan waited until she was out of earshot before he murmured, "No promises."