Chapter 11
“That text was just a tactic to scare you,” Rowan murmured, casually glancing around the restaurant. The ma?tre d’ had given them a quiet booth in the back. They were both sitting on the same side of the cushy, if small, booth, giving them a solid view of Tiago and Kayce Laurent, talking and laughing at old memories.
They were a little too far away to hear clearly under normal circumstances, but Tiago had in a near invisible earpiece and they were all connected, including Hailey and Jesse who were staked out in an SUV, and Gage, who was back at the house.
“Yeah, well, it worked.” Adalyn traced a finger down the length of her glass, flicked away a drop of moisture.
He shifted slightly, stretching his leg out to try to get comfortable, but it was impossible.
“Sit still,” she murmured, a smile on her face but not in her voice. She’d worn a platinum blonde wig shaped in a bob around her face. The bangs and glasses covered more of her face so that if anyone was using facial recognition software, it’d be a lot harder to pick her up.
And luckily for them it was raining so she’d used an umbrella to walk from their parked vehicle to the restaurant.
“I’m trying. These booths are too small.”
A smile tugged at her mouth and she started to say something, but then abruptly shut her mouth. And god he’d fantasized about that mouth. Full, pillowy lips that would look perfect… Not going down that path. No. Just no.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
“Were you going to say that I’m too big?” He grinned at her.
She sniffed once. “Sounds like Tiago might be getting some good info.”
She was definitely changing the subject but he ignored it for now, because she wasn’t wrong. “Yeah. And this is better than being stuck in a stinky van for undercover work.”
“The vans are only stinky if you bring garbage food.”
“Snack food,” he corrected.
“Fritos and gummy bears are not snack food.”
“Then what are they?”
She glanced at him, her expression dry. “Trash.”
“I’ll agree with you on the Fritos, but gummy bears are awesome.”
She snickered slightly, then frowned, turned away from him when a crash sounded.
Just a server who’d dropped a tray full of dirty glasses. Rowan winced slightly but at least it hadn’t been full drinks and it hadn’t been on anyone.
The main dining area had one line of booths along the wall, staggered tables in the open area, then an antique bar with old, polished dark wood that had mostly been imported from Ireland, according to Gage’s research. Then there was a bank of glass doors that were currently open onto a cobblestone patio with smaller tables and a more intimate setting. All the outdoor tables were circular and could only seat three, four max. The heat lamps helped with the chill in the air and there was a covering that kept the rain off all the tables except two that were currently unused.
The place was pricey, but he’d realized that most places in New Orleans proper were, especially in the Quarter.
“Here’s your antipasto platter,” their server said as he approached, set the tray in the middle of the table along with two small plates. “Can I interest you in something else?”
“Not right now,” Rowan murmured. “And thank you, this looks delicious.”
The man nodded and moved on to another table to take drink orders. Adalyn didn’t make a move to take anything off the platter so he plated some goat cheese and tomatoes onto the grilled bread and set it in front of her.
She looked up at him in surprise.
He shrugged. “I remember your obsession with goat cheese.”
She grinned, and for a moment he saw the “before” Adalyn. Before everything had gone to shit, had changed, and good people had died. Back when she’d still liked him and he’d, well…he’d more than liked her.
“Goat cheese is always the superior choice,” she murmured, turning away. “Nothing looks out of the ordinary. No one paying any attention to them. Or us that I can tell.”
“I don’t see anything either,” Hailey said into their ears. “From out here or on your feeds.”
They each had a small camera attached to them, including Tiago, and Rowan had set up a very small portable one in the corner that he’d be grabbing before they left.
He nudged Adalyn. “Eat. You’ve been running on fumes and everything is chill right now.”
She looked as if she wanted to argue, but nodded. “We should order some dessert too. They sell entire cakes. We could bring one back to the house.”
“Yes!” Hailey shouted in their ears, making him laugh.
Tiago was the only one who’d muted his feed so he wouldn’t be distracted by everyone, but they were still able to hear his conversation.
And it had just shifted from personal to the serious.
Adalyn shot Rowan a glance even as she bit into the bruschetta.
Aaand he had to look away and not stare at her mouth, or the way she licked away a bit of the oil from her bottom lip. Her very full, bite-able bottom lip.
“So, I need to be straight with you,” Tiago said over the feed.
“About what?” Kayce asked, his body language changing slightly.
“I’m in town for a job. I’m working as an investigator and we’re looking for someone we think was behind the bombing today.”
There was a long silence and Rowan watched the fire inspector stare at his friend before he responded.
“Okay. I’m going to need more than that,” Kayce finally said. “Who are you looking for? Have you talked to the team investigating? Because the PD hasn’t said a word to me about another agency being involved.”
“I can’t tell you the first one, and no, we haven’t.”
“We?”
Tiago sighed. “I’m working with a team. And for the record, I had no idea you were the investigator. That was just a happy coincidence when I was doing recon. And I can’t tell you who I’m working with.”
“Ah.” The dark-haired man sat back in his chair slightly, picked up his beer. “Is that because you’re not supposed to be operating on US soil?” AKA was he CIA?
Okay so this guy was making some normal assumptions, which made sense given that Tiago had been in the Marines and been stationed overseas for years. It was a logical conclusion that he might end up working for one of the alphabet agencies. But this guy had come to that conclusion fairly quickly and Rowan knew Tiago would use that to his advantage, play into it.
“Right now we’re looking for a suspected terrorist. He’s got a score to settle with someone and he doesn’t care who he hurts in the process. He’s already murdered at least one person that we know of and claimed responsibility for the bombing. Not publicly,” Tiago added. “But he’s claimed responsibility for two crimes and he’s not done.”
“Jesus,” the fire inspector muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. “Why haven’t you given this information to the PD? Or the FBI?”
“If we do, they’ll want a lot more details than we’re able to give. They’ll want to talk to who this person is targeting, and to be frank, we don’t know who we can trust. We’re not going to put this person in a position where they answer official questions or even go on record about this with the PD because it will paint a target on their back.” Tiago paused. “A bigger one than they have. But right now we have the advantage because the man behind this doesn’t know we’re involved. And as far as he knows, the PD has no connection between the murder and the bombing. He thinks he’s safe.”
“I don’t like any of this,” Kayce growled. “This is my city.”
“I’m with you. I hate all of this, which is why I’m working hard to stop anything else from happening.”
The other man was silent for a long moment, watching Tiago carefully.
“He took responsibility for Clara Fournier’s murder. Unofficially,” Tiago said.
Kayce blinked, then swore again. “My fiancée is friends with her. Was friends. We’re going to her funeral,” he murmured, looking shocked. Then his jaw tightened. “What do you need from me?”
“Any details you can provide about the bombing. Specific ones, like materials used, anything we can use to pinpoint who the maker was. And I’ve got resources you don’t. I’m not encumbered by certain rules.” Tiago leaned into that, making it clear that he worked in gray areas.
“He’s gonna go for it,” Adalyn murmured, watching the fire inspector, her expression shrewd.
“You think?” Rowan couldn’t read the guy, his expression too neutral. But Adalyn had a way of seeing through people.
And then she’d made a mistake, trusted the wrong person. And his people, her friends too, had gotten killed. Back then he hadn’t taken into account that she’d blamed herself because he’d been so busy blaming her, taking out all his anger on her instead of the asshole behind the bomb that had killed his guys.
“Yeah. He doesn’t know it yet, but he will. Tiago just needs to push the right buttons now.”
“I know I’m asking for a lot,” Tiago continued. “But I want to keep anyone else from getting hurt. We have a chance to stop a monster from wreaking more havoc, from taking more innocent lives, but only if we move fast. And to be blunt, as soon as you log the information you have, the people I work with will be able to get your report and dissect it. But we don’t have time to wait and you’ve got eyes and ears on the ground. You know this city better than most, I’d wager. We need your expertise. I want to know everything you think about that bomb, things you might not intend to put in the report.”
The fire inspector pushed out a sigh, and yep, Rowan could see it now. He was going to give them what they wanted.
“Okay. Okay,” he repeated. “I’ll help you. And you better keep me up to date on this. I don’t want any more bombs in my city.”
“Absolutely. And thank you.” Tiago’s expression and his tone were sincere as he reached out, shook the other man’s hand in gratefulness.
“He would have made a great agent.” There was a note of almost wistfulness in Adalyn’s voice. “God, he could have turned assets with the kind of skill that can’t really be taught.”
Rowan felt oddly jealous in that moment as Adalyn paid a compliment to a man he loved, would fight alongside in any situation. He grunted slightly, not agreeing one way or another.
He tapped his earpiece to mute his end, motioned for her to do the same. This way Hailey and Gage wouldn’t be able to overhear them.
“Do you miss things?” he asked.
She blinked, clearly in surprise. “Sometimes but maybe not in the way you think. I miss some of the relationships I created but there’s a lot more I don’t miss. I totally understand the need for things to be approved by those higher up but there were too many decisions based on internal politics. And yeah, I probably should have realized that going in, but…” She shrugged.
“Yeah, I thought I was going to see the world and have great experiences that would stay with me forever.” He snorted, basically quoting his recruiter.
She snickered in understanding. “Yeah, they really sell that shit well, don’t they.” Not exactly a question. “What about you? Do you miss things?”
“Yes and no. I think if I was working somewhere different I probably would, but I still have that sense of purpose I didn’t even know I needed. This company has really given it to me.”
“Same.” She took a bite of the bruschetta, gave him a thoughtful look. After a few moments she said, “How are you doing with this job?”
It took him a moment, but when he realized what she meant, everything inside him tightened and he wanted to go on the defensive. “Gage told you about what I saw?”
“Yeah and I’m not judging or worried about you as an operator. I might want to punch you in the face sometimes but you kicked ass on our last job in Montana. I’m just asking as your partner for this job.” She shrugged dismissively, but he could see the worry in her eyes.
“You want to punch my face?”
“More often than not. Oh, hey…” She gave a subtle chin nod as Tiago paid, then left with Kayce.
Tiago didn’t even look in their direction as he strode out, but Rowan saw him subtly tap his ear. Rowan turned his earpiece back on, said, “We heard everything. Contact us if you need us but Hailey will be tailing you two.”
Adalyn nodded, already motioning to their server for the check. Minutes later they were heading down a busy, wet sidewalk, to-go cake in hand.
Because she hadn’t been kidding about getting cake for everyone.
As they reached their rental parked about a mile away, they both received a text from Tiago.
Just saw the file. The bomb was an incendiary device. I’ve seen similarly made ones in Afghanistan.