Chapter 16
“Fireworks are better than grenades,” Adalyn muttered as she set the display on the back deck.
“Grenades aren’t even on the table so that’s not really a comparison.”
“I meant—”
“Oh, I know what you meant and we’re not blowing anything up.”
Yet.
“No, not yet or ever.”
Frowning, Adalyn looked up at Rowan. “Did you read my mind?”
He just shook his head, stretched out a hand for her.
She wasn’t sure why she took it. Compulsion maybe? Whatever the reason, she slid her hand into his bigger, callused one as if it was the most natural thing in the world and they stepped off the stern onto the long decking of the boat slip as two men arrived, smiling.
“We received your call about assistance with docking. We didn’t realize Mr. Browning was taking the boat out today,” one said. His teal polo shirt had a little embroidery over the left pocket that said William.
Ah, Hailey must have called. Smart woman. “Yes, thank you so much for your promptness. He’s out of the country but wanted me to test drive it. He’s thinking of selling,” she whispered conspiratorially.
“Oh, that will be a shame.”
“Well hopefully it will go to someone who gets more use out of it. He’s just in Europe so often these days.”
Rowan subtly cleared his throat. Okay, time to get out of here.
“Listen, we’ve got reservations. Would you mind tying her off?” Obviously that was why they were there, but politeness always went a long way.
“Of course. We’re here to help. And don’t forget to sign out when you leave.”
“I will. And thank you again.” She shook his hand, slipped him a fifty as a tip, and then she and Rowan hurried down the dock without seeming like they were running. “Are they close?”
“They’re docking,” he growled.
“How far away?” She didn’t want to turn and look around as if they knew they were being followed. She dropped one of the backpacks.
“Only spot is about eight slips down. We’ve got time if we hurry.”
Right as they hit the end of the decking, the sharp whistle of fireworks started. She snickered to herself as they exploded behind them, heard gasps of surprise from a couple strolling past them.
Without pause, Rowan dropped the other backpack he’d snagged from the boat onto the back of a speedboat no one was on or near.
Adalyn looked at her watch. “That one will go off in sixty seconds.” She glanced over her shoulder as they turned toward the crowded restaurant, could see one of the Feds, trying to make his way down the dock.
But people had stepped down from the restaurant and off boats to see what was going on so it was too crowded.
She and Rowan ducked into the restaurant, quickly making their way through the open-air place, and headed right out the front door.
In the gravel parking lot, Rowan palmed the key fob and they both started jogging toward the SUV.
“Hold on.” He glanced over his shoulder as they passed an SUV similar to their own, this one with government plates. He pulled out a blade from his backpack, stabbed it into one of the tires with a hard shove.
“That was smart,” Adalyn said once they were both in the SUV, steering out of the parking lot. She turned in her seat as he pulled onto the road, laughed slightly as the two men arrived at their SUV, clearly pissed. “I probably shouldn’t laugh but those guys didn’t blend at all.”
Rowan shrugged. “They probably think we’re with one of Ali’s competitors.”
“We’re going to need to ditch this soon,” she said as she pulled out her phone, contacted Hailey. “Hey, thanks for calling the marina,” she said as soon as the woman answered.
“No problem. I’ve completely erased the two of you from the security feeds. And luckily for you, this isn’t a high-end place. They don’t have their recordings saved off-site. They just keep things for two weeks before they’re automatically erased. Go ahead and ditch the SUV. Tiago and Ezra grabbed a ride so you two can do the same. Unless you’re worried about your getaway?”
“No, I think we’re good.” She glanced around as Rowan moved onto the highway to head back to downtown New Orleans. Depending on traffic, it would hopefully only take them half an hour max. Which meant they needed to ditch this SUV ASAP. Because the Feds could easily call in for backup.
“Okay, see you soon.”
As if he’d read her mind, Rowan pulled off at the next exit and started driving through quiet little neighborhoods. “Setting off fireworks didn’t take two people,” he finally said into the quiet.
“I know.” She looked out her window, letting her vision relax so that the buildings and cars they passed were all a blur of color and soft shapes.
“Why’d you stay behind?”
“Because I didn’t want to leave you to handle things alone. Anything could have happened.” And okay, because she still felt guilty over the past. Didn’t matter that she’d gotten bad intel—that kind of loss had burrowed deep, was a part of her now. The guilt lived inside her. And screw it, Skye was right. Adalyn was looking for redemption, more than she’d realized.
Thankfully he didn’t respond.
Eventually he pulled into a six-story parking garage and drove all the way to the top, parked in the corner farthest from the stairs and elevators. Then he pulled out his cell phone. “I’m dropping a pin for Hailey so she can delete the camera feeds in the parking garage. You ready?”
“Yep.”
He tossed the keys into the front seat before grabbing his stuff.
And that was that. Because she had no desire to talk about why she’d stayed. She just wanted to figure out who was after her and keep her sister safe. Then get far away from Rowan.
“That smells so good.” Adalyn sat at the island countertop next to her sister as Tiago cooked for all of them. Thankfully Rowan sat at the other end, far out of her line of sight.
Okay, not far, but Hailey and Ezra were in between them so she wouldn’t have to look at his annoyingly rugged, adorable face unless absolutely necessary.
After ditching the SUV, they’d called for a car, then had it drop them off a mile from the safe house. Only once they were sure they weren’t being followed, they’d gone on foot the rest of the way.
And the whole time had been all awkward and quiet.
Normally she didn’t mind quiet, but the silence between them had been charged. Maybe it had something to do with the whole “grinding on him for their cover” thing. Whatever. She needed space from him now.
“Yeah, what are you cooking for us?” Fleur asked, taking a sip of her white wine. She was the only one drinking, and Adalyn was glad her sister was trying to relax.
Occasionally Adalyn drank while on the job, but not often and she was too geared up right now to even think about it.
“Gumbo. Recipe I got from my nana.” He glanced over his shoulder at Fleur and gave her sister a smile that made Adalyn frown.
Apparently Tiago had been serious when he’d asked about her sister. She’d thought maybe Ezra and he had just been messing with her but… She looked at her sister, saw that Fleur practically had stars in her eyes. Oh, no. Just no.
“Good, I’m starving,” Hailey said dramatically, her laptop in front of her. “And while we’re here, I wanted to go over some things.”
“Where’s Gage?” Adalyn asked. “And Jesse?”
“Gage is on a video call with his girls. And Jesse is at some boring work dinner. Something about a real estate deal.” Hailey didn’t look up as she worked. “So, I’ve narrowed down a handful of people that Ali seems to work with on the regular. Ones I’m pretty sure who would help move his product, specifically this guy.”
Hailey turned her screen around. “Name’s Kevin Davis. Big into weapons running along the Gulf Coast and down into Florida. A little up the East Coast but then it starts to blend with someone else’s territory. If we can figure out his routes, we can steal one or more of Ali’s shipments, then grab Ali when he comes out of hiding.”
Adalyn rolled that around for a moment. “Anything interesting on the recording from Ali’s place?”
Hailey shook her head. “No. I asked Elijah to pitch in and listen to what he can while working his current job, but so far, nothing. Gage and I are also running a program that picks up keywords, but…” She shrugged. “Mainly it’s talk of basketball and women.”
Men were the same everywhere. The particular sport might change, but some interests were universal.
“Why don’t you guys just, like…target his stash house, or whatever it’s called?” Fleur said into the lull.
Surprised, she turned to look at her sister, could feel the weight of the others’ stares as well.
Fleur blinked. “What?”
“I mean…we could. That’s a really great idea,” Hailey murmured.
“It is,” Adalyn agreed. “But it’ll be more difficult to locate and very likely heavily armed. We want to steal from him, not blow his shit up. It makes more sense to target something moving and will be a lot easier to run a vehicle off the road. And we’ll have something we can negotiate with, get him out into the opening to do a deal. If we go after his stash house, we’ll likely be going up against a small army and will lose any element of surprise.”
“Yeah,” Hailey grumbled.
Adalyn frowned at her, then let out a startled laugh as something occurred to her. “Oh my god, you just want to blow something up.”
“Every day.”
Still laughing, she glanced at her phone when it buzzed across the countertop. Relieved to see that it wasn’t another unknown number, she answered. “Hey.” She slid off the stool, striding from the room for quiet. Gumbo followed, her little nails clicking along the tile as the two of them stepped out onto the back patio. They were greeted by laughter and music from a neighboring house. Could be tourists or locals, but they were definitely having a good time.
“Hey, yourself,” said Rory Collins, now Detective Collins, and also her high school boyfriend once upon a time.
“Thanks for getting back to me.” She sat on one of the rocking chairs that faced out onto the pool. There were lights everywhere in the backyard, all strategically placed for an inviting atmosphere. Gumbo took her off guard and jumped into her lap, but she smiled, cuddling the not-quite-a-lapdog close.
“I was surprised to hear from you. But…I heard about your sister’s roommate. The detective in charge of her case is good. And…I’m really sorry.”
Yeah, she was too.
“How’s she doing?” he asked, because of course he did. He was one of the kindest, most thoughtful people she’d ever met and she doubted that had changed in the last decade plus. Because some people were simply good to their core.
“Good enough. Grieving, but…listen, I need to talk to you. In person. Without our phones.”
He was silent for a loooong moment. “Are you safe right now?”
“Yes, but only because I’m at a safe house.” Okay, apparently she was going for honesty, partially because she couldn’t lie to Rory. Or she didn’t want to. And in this case, honesty was the only thing that made sense considering what she was going to ask of him.
“Jesus, Addy. What’s going on?”
She shoved out a sigh as she sank her fingers into Gumbo’s fur. “Whoever killed Clara made a mistake. They thought they killed Fleur, then texted me to taunt me. Someone is targeting me for something. I’m not sure why, but I have a guess. And I need your help. But I also don’t want to put you in danger. The only reason I reached out is because we haven’t talked in…” Wait, how long had it been?
“Well over a decade,” he murmured. “And I was surprised to get your voicemail.”
“What I’m asking might be dangerous, so heads-up now if you want to just hang up and pretend this conversation never happened.”
“If you’re free tonight, we can meet at one of our old stomping grounds. The cemetery?”
He didn’t say which one and for that she was grateful. Just in case anyone was listening, though she seriously doubted it. He hadn’t been a part of her life for so long, was basically just a short chapter. One she treasured, but still. It had been a short one nonetheless, and they had no ties anymore. Even so, she’d known that he would at least listen if she called him. “Just say the time.”
“An hour?”
“That works. And be careful, okay?”
“I will.”