Chapter 5
Five
Luca tore open the packet of sugar and dumped it into his black coffee, stirring his spoon around in the small diner mug. Determining not to think about Kira or their conversation, especially since he was here to have lunch with Mack.
Luca had done a little research into her background, even connecting with someone he knew who was a tech whiz and CEO—Jamie Winters.
They’d met in Alaska last year, and Jamie had helped them figure out that whole deal with the bioweapon and the terrorist group.
In fact, she’d been an integral part in getting to the truth that their old teammate, Elias Redding, and his family were working to destabilize the USA.
Jamie had sent him a packet of information she’d found about Kira.
Added to what he’d uncovered locally, it didn’t amount to much.
She had extensive investments, and three years ago she’d signed a lease on a downtown apartment in a brand-new high-rise.
She was paid well by the hospital, and every annual review seemed positive.
Jamie had told him it all came across as clean—almost too clean—but he’d told her not to dig anymore.
If there were secrets in Kira’s life, he wanted to discover them himself.
Preferably by getting to know her and her choosing to trust him enough to share those things herself, rather than him uncovering anything she didn’t want the world to know.
Dolly wandered past him, her sneakers squeaking on the linoleum floor. She winked as she went by, already aware he was waiting for Hammer’s half brother.
The lunchtime crowd included a couple of moms in a booth, strollers next to their table.
Toddlers climbed on them and the bench seat while they chatted and caught up with each other.
Two older men talked over open Bibles at their table in the corner.
Dolly took the empty plates from the gentlemen and said something Luca was too far away to hear.
The door swung open, ringing the bell above it.
Dolly glanced over. “Hey, sweetie.”
Mack waved to her, then found Luca in the room and headed over. When he slid into the seat across the table, Luca got a look at the dark circles under his eyes.
“Long shift?”
“I got off late last night. It’s been a long few days, so I slept until about an hour ago.”
Luca nodded. “Smart, resting while you can.”
“I have today off. I might go see a movie later or something. And get some food, because there’s nothing in my apartment.” He glanced aside at Dolly, who held out her carafe of coffee. Mack upended his mug, and she poured. “Thanks, Dolly. I’ll have the ham and Swiss sandwich.”
“You got it.” She glanced at Luca. “And for you?”
“Cheeseburger and fries.”
“I’ll be back.” She turned and wandered away.
“How is it going, being an EMT? You like it?”
Mack shrugged one shoulder. “It isn’t exactly what I expected, and I’m still a rookie, but being closer to downtown means some nights are back-to-back calls. I’m pretty sure Hammer expected me to go back to school, not just get an EMT cert and go to work.”
“I think he just wants you to find something you enjoy doing. Preferably something legal.” Luca smiled.
“I knew for a fact it wasn’t going to be something boring.” Mack shook his head. “Not after fighting wildfires for two years and everything that happened.”
Luca took a sip of his coffee. “Boring can be good sometimes. A little bit of peace is good for the soul. But I get what you mean about needing something high-energy. Transitioning to being an investigator has been interesting.”
“I’m just glad things have settled down a bit.” Mack sniffed. “Hammer is here, and he’s with his family. Dad is…whatever.”
“Have you talked to him at all?”
Mack shot him a look. “I know you’re still investigating that whole thing and you went to talk to him. One of the old ladies at church, her son is a corrections officer. He said he saw you come in and talk to my dad.”
“Sorry. I could’ve given you a heads-up,” Luca said. “But I need him to tell me what he knows about this shadow syndicate. Rousseau isn’t giving us anything.”
“You really think there’s some criminal empire in Renegade?”
“If there is, I want to know. I don’t want to bury my head in the sand.”
“Seems like you’re just asking for trouble, digging up things people don’t want anyone to know.”
Luca studied the guy. Barely into his twenties, but in some ways, he seemed like he was much older. And yet in others, as if he was more vulnerable than he should be. “You’ve had to face a lot the last few months. Realizing the kind of man your dad is and him going to jail. All those charges.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m anything like him.”
“No one would ever believe you were.” Luca wondered something. “Did you become an EMT to help people, to try and convince everyone that you’re a good guy?” If someone in his life was hassling him about being the son of Alden Jenkins, Luca wanted to have a word with that person.
“I already have a big brother, Sax. I don’t need another one breathing down my neck.”
“Fine.” Luca spread his fingers, showing his palms. “I’ll back down. But seriously, if anyone is giving you a hard time, you should tell me or Hammer.”
Dolly delivered their plates, and Luca reached for the ketchup, squirting some beside his fries.
Mack lifted one half of his sandwich. “Because I need my big brothers wading in to fight my battles for me?”
“I know what it’s like to take a job so you can be someone other than who everyone thinks you are. That’s why I joined the Army, so I could figure out who I wanted to be and everyone would know I was on the right side because of what uniform I was wearing.”
Mack eyed him, taking a big bite.
“My older brother was already in jail by then. I finished out high school in foster care because it was better than being on the streets. Soon as I was done, I signed up.”
“I never knew that.”
Luca shrugged. “Your dad said that he’ll consider telling me what I need to know about the Shadow Syndicate…if you come and see him at the prison.”
Mack’s expression hardened. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Luca watched him absorb the information, but the kid didn’t say anything.
He probably didn’t know what to say. Mack was the kind of guy who thought a whole lot and then measured his words carefully.
It was nice on a rough day, when everyone was tired and overwhelmed by what’d happened.
Out in the backcountry somewhere, exhausted from fighting fires and dealing with the loss of someone they weren’t able to save.
The kid’s natural quietness had been a kind of peace they’d all needed.
But right now, Luca needed someone to give him something. “I don’t even know if he has information or if he’s stringing me along. I just wanted you to know what he said.”
“You aren’t going to tell me to go see him?” Mack seemed surprised.
Luca shrugged. “That’s up to you. I’m not going to force you to do something you don’t want to do just because it might get me an answer on my case.”
“I’ll think about it.” He took a big bite of his sandwich.
“Thanks.” Luca finished his burger and wiped his hands on his napkin.
“Want some company for that movie later? I need to go to the hospital and get started on a security job I was contracted for, assessing all the measures they already have in place and making some suggestions. But I could move some things around and come with you.”
Mack shrugged. “If you want. When you go by the hospital, see if my friend Kira is there. She’s a doctor in the ER. She seems kind of lonely, so I always talk to her when I go in. She’s super nice.”
Luca forced himself to not react. “Dr. Kira Yassan?”
Mack frowned. “You know her?”
“A little bit.” How else was he supposed to explain their encounter years ago? Or the one this morning. “You think she’s lonely?”
Mack shrugged one shoulder. “Whenever we take a patient into her ER, she and I grab a soda from the vending machine and chat for a minute. I’ve told her all about Hammer and Sierra, and you and Kane.
Not all the sensitive stuff about Maria and her father.
That stuff seems pretty top secret, and it wasn’t in the news articles. ”
“Did she ask you about all that stuff?”
“I don’t remember. We just started talking about it, and like I said, she seems kind of lonely. Like she needs someone to talk to.”
This didn’t sound good at all. If Kira was going around questioning people connected to Luca about all the things that’d happened the last few years, it could be because she was here as a covert operative to gather information.
Even the paper trail of her having been here for a few years could be fake.
She may have shown up recently, purely to get close to the Trouble Boys in Renegade—Hammer and Luca.
“Could you do me a favor?” When Mack nodded, Luca continued. “Maybe pull back a little on telling her stuff. Just for a while. Until I figure something out.”
Mack’s expression shifted to something that looked like worry. “There’s something about her that I need to know?”
“I don’t have an answer for that yet. But I’ll keep you posted.”
Mack rolled his eyes. “Maybe you just don’t know her. She’s not some kind of bad guy like the people we’ve met before, terrorists and whatnot. She’s just a doctor. And a nice lady.”
Of course the kid would call someone ten years older than him a “lady.” But Luca still needed him to be careful. At least until Luca knew who Kira really was and what she was doing here in Renegade.
“I hope you’re right.”
Mack shook his head. “You know, she’s pretty good-looking as well. If you’re going to be so cynical, thinking everyone you meet is a bad guy, you’ll never end up with a date. You’re way too suspicious.”
The kid probably thought he knew Kira a whole lot better than Luca did. But there were too many things Mack didn’t know about her. Mack didn’t seem worried at all that Kira would turn out to be someone with ulterior motives.