A Covert Affair (Deadly Ops #5)(19)

“Is there anyone you can think of who’d want to target you?”

“Not really.” She didn’t have any enemies that she knew of.

“No competitors?”

She let out a short laugh even though it was a fair question, considering how tough the restaurant business could be. “Not where my restaurants are located. My only ‘competition’ is corporate-style places. They’re not struggling for business and I’m not crossing into any small business owners’ territory, so . . . no.” She racked her brain, trying to think of who could have tried to run her off the road like that.

“You fire anyone lately?”

“Uh, yeah. I let go a couple guys go recently. Both about a month ago.”

“Names?”

“Neal Gray and Rodger Turner. The first for harassing my female staff and Turner because he was lazy. Neal was pretty lazy too, so it’s hard to see either of them motivated enough to come after me. Especially a month later.”

“Hmm,” was all he said as he paused, likely writing this down as well. “You got a security system at your place?”

“Yes.”

“Good. What about a Taser?”

“I’ve got pepper spray, but I also have a small pistol—and a concealed weapons permit,” she quickly added. Not only was she a single woman in a big city, but she owned two restaurants, which meant a lot of late-night deposits. She had to be careful when she was working, and sadly, this was one of the survival things she’d picked up from her mother. Her mom had held down a regular job as a waitress during the day, but at night she’d sold her body—and kept a gun for protection. It had saved her mom’s life more than once. And Amelia hadn’t always lived in the nice neighborhood she did now. When she’d been working crazy hours trying to save enough money to start her own place, she lived in the cheapest places she could find, which meant sketchy neighborhoods. She’d never been oblivious about the type of protection she might need.

“Okay. Do you know how to use it?”

A fair question. “I go to the range every two weeks.”

“Good. Until I know more, don’t meet with Maria or her husband alone. I’ll look into them asap, see what I can find.”

“I owe you.”

“Yeah, you do. You can buy me dinner next time I stop by one of your places.”

“Deal. You can bring a date. I’ll cover both of you.”

He laughed lightly. “You wound my ego, Rios. I thought you wanted me for yourself.”

Maybe if there had never been a Nathan Ortiz in her life, she could have let herself open up to someone else. Strangely enough, she wished she had a way to contact him right about now, tell him about what had happened. She immediately chastised herself at the thought. She hadn’t seen Nathan in over a decade; she shouldn’t be thinking this way. “With our schedules we’d never see each other. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

“Yeah, yeah, one day I’ll convince you to go out with me.” His tone was light, teasing. “Text me when you get home, let me know you’re inside safe.”

“I will. And thanks.” After they hung up, a weight she hadn’t realized had been sitting on her chest lifted. Instead of heading straight home, she drove around for an extra ten minutes to make sure she wasn’t being followed.

As she reached the turnoff to her cul-de-sac street, even more of that tension lifted. Tonight had been freaking crazy on too many levels, the main one seeing Nathan Ortiz. The car incident and strange meeting with Maria should probably rank higher on her “holy shit” list, but Nathan was at the top.

Even now she could picture him clearly in her mind. Tall, dark, and handsome. He certainly fit the bill. He’d always hated being considered a pretty boy, and now he was simply striking to look at. Like a beautiful fallen angel. Even his beard, something she’d never thought of as hot before, looked good on him. She was going to need to take a cold shower just thinking about him. Thinking about how delicious he’d looked in that tux.

Mentally shaking herself, she pushed all thoughts out of her mind as her house came into view. She and Nathan were done, had been a long time ago. All she wanted right now was wine and a few hours of sleep so she could think clearly. Because as soon as she woke up, she was scouring all her records for any bits of information she could find on the women who were allegedly—and probably if Maria’s information was correct—missing.

“You sure this is the best approach?” Cade asked from the driver’s seat. Maria had headed home after the meeting at Bayside, but Cade and Nathan weren’t done for the night. Not even close.

Nathan nodded, looking at the map on his laptop. The red dot that indicated Amelia’s phone wasn’t heading to her address. “Yeah . . . Elliott,” he said, talking to the analyst on the other end of the phone. They had him on speaker as they drove to Amelia’s place. “Is what I’m seeing right?”

“Yeah, looks like she’s just driving around in circles, but she’s slowly making her way to her home. I can see it in her driving patterns.” Nathan could hear Elliott typing away on his keyboard. Tall and a little lanky, the analyst with a pattern of short zigzag braids on his head was very good at his job.

If Nathan couldn’t work with Karen on a job, Elliott was his second choice and was just as skilled. Since Karen was in Maryland now and Elliott in Miami, it made more sense for Elliott to be the one on this small op. Though Karen was doing a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff as usual.