A Covert Affair (Deadly Ops #5)(17)

“Yeah, I’m scheduled to stop by both restaurants in the morning, but I can shift stuff around.”

“Great, I’ll walk you to your car.”

Amelia nodded, glad she knew how to keep cool when inside she was scared. She had a shitty mother to thank for that. That survival skill was one of the only good things she’d gotten from her childhood.

“Did something about her seem off to you?” Cade asked as he and Nathan watched Maria and Amelia on the laptop.

The recording of Maria’s office was crystal clear. The NSA’s Miami home base had patched them in to the feed. It didn’t matter that they were only a few doors down from Maria; they were on standby in case she needed them. Now it was clear she didn’t.

Cade’s wife had played tonight perfectly. Well, almost. She’d paused before saying who Cade worked for. “It was slight, but when Maria said you worked for the FBI, Amelia stopped breathing. For just a second. Could mean nothing.”

“No, I saw it too. She might not believe Maria.”

“She didn’t ask to see your ID or anything either.” Amelia was a hard woman to read; she’d always been like that, but she’d been ready to get away from Maria and the center. “How did she seem about her Jeep being rammed?” Nathan hadn’t been able to get that out of his head. The thought of someone going after Amelia made him see red. He’d wanted to see the damage for himself but hadn’t been willing to risk being seen by her or anyone else.

Cade lifted a shoulder. “Annoyed, but not concerned. Could be a case of simple road rage.”

“Maybe.” Nathan didn’t believe in random, though. According to Cade someone had run into her twice. “I want to see if we can get a hit from any traffic cams, maybe of the actual attack or her attacker’s license plate. She said she was near an IHOP?”

Cade nodded. “I’ll ask Karen to do a search for us. And whether it was random or not, Amelia seemed pretty disgusted at the thought of women going missing.”

Nathan nodded, relieved in that knowledge. She might not believe Cade was who he said he was, but it seemed unlikely she was involved with the missing women. Her financials certainly wouldn’t suggest it, but her reaction had been real, plain and simple. “When you talk to her in the morning, I’m going with you.”

Cade shot him a sideways glance.

“After I talk to Burkhart,” he muttered, pulling his cell out. Pushing up from his seat in the break room the volunteers used, he dialed his boss.

Burkhart answered on the first ring. “I want you to go with Cade to the meeting with Ms. Rios tomorrow,” he said by way of greeting. “She showed a raw reaction to what Maria told her, but she’s still spooked about something.”

“We both caught that too. I don’t think she believed Maria when she said Cade works for the FBI . . . Listen. I know Amelia.” He quickly launched into the explanation of how his grandmother had lived next door to Amelia’s poor excuse for a mother. How they’d been friends but hadn’t gone to the same high school. There was no paper trail linking them anywhere, no pictures that he knew of. Except a couple of prom pictures and some photographs they’d taken at the beach together that he’d saved. He’d never been able to get rid of those last few. It was a tether to his past, something he knew. He wasn’t sorry for it either. Of course he didn’t tell Burkhart the personal details or about his real relationship with Amelia. He made it sound like a casual high school dating thing.

When he was done with the basics, Burkhart was silent for a long moment.

“Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“I didn’t know. I . . . fuck, boss, I scanned her file, but I didn’t delve into it, since Cade was the one who was going to make contact with her. Her last name’s different now, so I didn’t make a connection. Not that it’s an excuse. I screwed up and I take full responsibility for it.”

“Why do you think she didn’t call you out and use your real name with Mercado?” Burkhart asked, ignoring Nathan’s apology.

“We have a history together and she’s . . . loyal to her friends. I promised to give her answers, promised to call her and explain what was going on.”

“She could have already blown your cover.”

No way in hell. He reined in his automatic, emotional response. If he showed emotion, Burkhart would pull him tonight without a second thought. “That’s true. I don’t think she did, though.”

Another silence stretched between them, seemed to go on forever. Finally Burkhart spoke again, his voice clipped. “You’ll go to the meet tomorrow . . . Damn it, she’s making a phone call.”

“What?” She’d literally just left the center.

“Amelia Rios is calling someone right now. Keep your line open.” Burkhart ended the call abruptly.

Ice filled Nathan’s veins as he turned back to Cade, who’d already packed up the laptop and their equipment. Nathan could hear Maria’s heels echoing off the hallway in the distance as she made her way to where they were. He tuned it out as he tried rationalize why Amelia would be calling anyone this late at night—technically morning now. She didn’t have a boyfriend, and by her own admission this had been her first date with Mercado. It wasn’t normal to call people after midnight without a serious purpose.