14. Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Magnolia held her finger up to her mouth as Gumbo sat down next to her, her tail wagging wildly. She was trying to eavesdrop, thank you very much, and didn’t need the dog giving her away.
After a sleepless night, she’d come downstairs searching for coffee and heard Ezra talking with the others. Crouching down by the kitchen entrance, she petted Gumbo as Ezra talked quietly with his team. A team and company in general she had a lot more questions about.
“We can bring out a drone for this,” Tiago said. “But I don’t know if it’s necessary for just recon.”
“I think parabolic mics will be fine and we bring the drone for backup in case we can’t get close enough,” Ezra said.
“I say we take two vehicles,” Berlin said. “That way if we need to hide a body, we can use one vehicle to dispose of him.”
“I can’t tell if you’re joking,” Tiago muttered.
“Pretty sure she’s not.” Ezra. “And I’m on board with that idea.”
Magnolia’s eyebrows shot up. She looked at Gumbo, who just licked her face.
“Jesus,” Tiago muttered again. “We’re not disposing of anything.”
“Don’t let her fool you into feeding her. She’s already been fed.” A voice behind her made her jump. Adalyn.
Feeling her face flush, she smiled up at Adalyn, not even a little sorry about eavesdropping. “I’ll give her treats anyway.”
The pretty redhead smiled. “You don’t have to eavesdrop. Just go on in.”
“You didn’t have to narc me out,” she muttered as she stood. In the kitchen Ezra and the other two were quiet as they walked in. “Are you guys serious about the body thing?”
“No!” Tiago said.
Ezra just shrugged. Berlin did the same.
Magnolia blinked. “I’m going to need coffee. Also, tell me what this recon thing entails.”
Ezra grabbed a mug for her. “I’ve got your coffee. I saw how you make it at your house.”
Oookay then, that gave her far too many feelings. She sat at the island top next to Berlin who had her laptop in front of her.
“I think I found out where Perry might be. One of his known associates has been texting a burner phone and it sounds like the guy might be helping Perry hide in exchange for some low-level transport. AKA moving drugs in and out of the city.”
“When are we leaving?” she asked as Ezra set her coffee, just the way she liked it, in front of her. “Thank you.” She smiled up at him, wishing he’d stayed the night with her last night. Not that it had even been on the table for him. Then she wouldn’t have tossed and turned all night and woken up unsatisfied.
“Weee?” Berlin stretched the word out slowly.
“Uh, yeah. You said it’s just recon and you guys are not leaving me here.”
Ezra cleared his throat and she could see the indecision in his eyes.
“Is it dangerous?” she asked.
“We’re just trying to get eyes on him. That’s all. It’s not dangerous.”
“What happens if you see him?”
“Then we call Detective Flores and let her know so she can let the correct people know to execute the warrant for him.”
“Like I said, when do we leave?” She lifted her mug to her mouth.
Berlin cleared her throat and Adalyn simply grinned. Tiago avoided eye contact with all of them so Magnolia looked at Ezra.
He sighed. “We’re ready now. You’re riding with me.”
She slid off the stool. “Ready to go.” Then she looked at Berlin. “Can you send me some of those files you have on Perry? I’m curious about what you found.”
“Ah…sure?”
“Thanks.” Magnolia smiled at her, then up at Ezra.
He was definitely annoyed, or maybe just frustrated, but he grabbed another travel mug and headed for the garage. He was silent until they got in one of the SUVS, then when they pulled out, he finally spoke. “I wasn’t being serious about…killing Perry.”
“Okay.” But she wasn’t so sure. It was the main reason she’d wanted to come this morning. Plus she’d wanted to be with Ezra and see what he did for a living. But he’d sounded serious and she wasn’t going to let him throw away his life over garbage like Samuel Perry. “So how does this work?”
“What do you mean?” he asked as he pulled onto a main road.
It was early enough on Sunday that the traffic was thinner than normal. “Do you guys really use drones to spy on targets? Is that what you call them?”
His mouth quirked up slightly. “Yes and yes. Sometimes we use something as simple as binoculars. Or one of us plants bugs. But this is supposed to be a house in a suburban-type neighborhood so we’re going to keep it simple.”
“And not kill him,” she added.
He slid his sunglasses on as he took the ramp to the highway leading east. “No one’s killing anyone. Probably.”
***
Magnolia yawned and leaned her seat back a few more inches.
“You’re the one who wanted to come,” Ezra murmured, a hint of laughter in his voice.
“I know. I just thought a stakeout would be more exciting.” But the last three hours they’d been sitting in the parking lot of a small public park across the street from some random guy’s house in the hopes that Perry would show up.
It hadn’t been all bad. She’d enjoyed talking to Ezra, but…yeah, this was boring. “So are all stakeouts like this?”
“Mostly.”
“Oh my god, you’re lying.”
He grinned at her now. “I’m not lying! Most stakeouts are like watching paint dry. But some are exciting.”
“How’d you end up in this line of work anyway? And what does your team really do? Because none of you act or even dress like the security people I’ve worked with before. Even Scarlett was in a suit and had a certain look to her.”
“I sort of fell into it. Hailey asked me and the others if we wanted to bring down assholes and have fun doing it—her exact words—and get paid on top of it. She said we’d get to kick in doors and make bad guys cry on the regular.”
Magnolia snorted out a laugh. “She sounds amazing.”
“Her weapon of choice is bear spray. She buys it in bulk, and I’m not kidding. She’s made more grown men cry than I can count. She is very liberal with it.”
Magnolia started laughing. “Oh my god. I shouldn’t be laughing but that’s amazing. Mari carries bear spray too! She says it’s the best defense. I should start carrying bear spray around.”
He grinned. “I think that’s a great idea. So yeah, we’re not typical security. Our mission is literally all about helping people who need it the most. People who can’t pay or don’t have anywhere else to turn to.”
Oooh, like she needed more reasons to adore him. “That’s amazing.”
Another shrug. Gah, this man.
“So…I think Lucas might be dating someone and not telling me.”
He shot her a surprised look. “Why do you say that?” he asked before turning back to watch the house across the street.
It was cold out so there weren’t any kids at the park. Or maybe because it was still early and Sunday. Cars had been coming and going from the one-story ranch-style house all morning. The people arriving had walked in the open garage, then walked out less than ten minutes later. She knew that Berlin and Tiago were taking pictures with a long-range camera to get shots of the license plates. She had no idea what they were going to do with them. Maybe give them to Camila? Or maybe that was wishful thinking on her part.
“I don’t know. I found this little painting in his duffel bag when I was packing up. I wasn’t snooping,” she added, feeling the need to defend herself even though he wasn’t remotely judging her. “He’s always been open with me. I mean, I gave him ‘the talk,’ and while it was awkward, I don’t know, I feel like I did all right. And whenever he’s had a question, I’ve always tried to be honest. I don’t know why he wouldn’t tell me if he was dating someone.”
Ezra was quiet for a long moment. “It might not be about you. Or his relationship with you. It could just be he doesn’t know how he feels about this hypothetical relationship yet. And he’s still young, figuring shit out.” He shrugged. “If he is dating someone and hasn’t told you, I don’t think it’s a reflection of his relationship with you or how he views you.”
“Yeah, I guess.” She sighed. “He’s just growing up so fast and soon he’ll be moving out. I’m not ready for it.”
Reaching over, he picked up her hand, laced his fingers through hers and squeezed. He didn’t say anything else, was just a solid comfort. He’d been like that seventeen years ago before everything had gone pear-shaped. It was comforting that he was still seemingly the same.
Then that sense of sadness swept through her as she thought of all the years they’d lost. But she knew if she gave in to those thoughts, it would suck her under so she did what she’d been doing for years. She tucked everything away and ignored her sadness for the moment. (Her therapist would be shaking her head, giving her that “you’re smarter than that” look right about now.)
Her phone buzzed, making her jump. Her dad again. She rejected the call.
Ezra didn’t say anything thankfully.
Not long after that, Lucas called. Then her mom, wanting to assure her that Lucas was studying. Then Mari, Charles, Henri, and then to her surprise Jesse Lennox. He wanted to tell her he’d spoken personally to the architect she was hoping to get on board with her team, and the woman had been wanting to work in New Orleans for ages. It was a really positive update and something he could have simply emailed her. Which told her how much he or Hailey must like Ezra.
Also not surprising, since the man was wonderful. And for some annoying reason he seemed to be fighting his attraction to her. She couldn’t figure out why either. Last night she’d seen that look, had understood exactly what it meant.
He still wanted her and she wanted him. No problem, right? Gah!
When he suddenly put the SUV into drive, she glanced over in surprise. “We’re leaving?”
“You sound way too happy about that.” His tone was dry. “And yes, we’re calling it. Berlin planted two small cameras so we’ve got a way to keep an eye on this place.”
“Clearly I would make a terrible private investigator because I didn’t even see her.”
“She planted one when you were on the phone with Mari, when she was posing as a jogger. And the other she went in through the backyard of the neighbor so neither of us would have seen her.”
“I’m impressed. So…I want to go have dinner with my mom and Lucas tonight. I know he’s safe at my parents’ but I miss him. And I think my mom needs to spend time with me.” The truth was, she wanted to spend time with her mom too. They’d always been close, and the last couple days had shaken Magnolia’s foundation. “You’re invited too, but I don’t expect you to come.”
“I’ll come.” He said it all casually, topping it off with a shrug.
“You don’t have to.”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight.” His words were a growl, making her entire body…clench.
It was as if all of her muscles tightened at his protective, growly tone, because how could she not be affected? She didn’t even trust her voice at this point, so she simply nodded.
And tried to figure out how to convince this wonderful man that he needed to spend tonight in her bed. Simultaneously she wondered if sex had changed in the years since she’d had it and if maybe she was biting off more than she could chew .
But then she replayed his words in her head, that possessive tone that turned her insides to mush, and another rush of heat punched through her. Screw it.
She was going to get this man into her bed and keep him there.