Chapter 8 #2
“So we talk to your friend and what?”
“Let’s just see how they run their garbage routes. Get a feel for how they operate.”
Finn hadn’t said Michael couldn’t help Dani out on her investigation. And he had to admit, the threat when she’d been poking around was hinky. “All right. Where do I go?”
“Thank you!” She leaned over and squeezed his arm.
It was nice to see her excitement. Maybe it would rub off on him. After so many dead ends, he needed something good to come his way.
Michael followed Dani’s directions and turned at the next street. He drove to Renegade Waste Management, but before they pulled in, Dani pointed to the curb.
“Park on the street, not in the lot.”
“Whoa-kay.” He parked and got out of the car. They stood on the sidewalk outside the business’s main gate. “Anything else, Princess?”
She smirked. “Thought you’d never ask. First of all”—her eyes squinted as she studied his chest—“do you have a T-shirt under that button-down?”
“Yesssss?” Something about her direct gaze on his torso had his neck flushing hot. Sure, she’d mentioned once in a giddy haze that she liked him, but that had been a long time ago. She’d been a college kid. And drunk.
So very drunk.
“Good.” She came close, yanked his shirt tails until they were untucked. Then she removed his tie and unbuttoned the shirt. “You gotta loosen up. Bend your head down.”
Why, he couldn’t say, but he found himself bent at the waist, following her commands. Her fingers combed through his hair, mussing it up and then combing it back down.
“That’s better.” She smiled as she took off her own white blouse, revealing a cute tank top underneath. Digging again into her bag, she pulled out a bright-orange sweater. She threw the button-down shirt into the back seat of his car and ruffled her own hair so it was…fluffier?
Whatever it was, clearly she was not a kid any longer.
“Let’s go.” She wagged her eyebrows and walked toward the building.
“This is your plan? Look like a slob and go through the front door?”
“No, silly. We look like normal, everyday folk and not like a cop and a federal agent. And we don’t go through the front door. We go out back.”
Of course Dani Kim would think that would work. And for lack of a better idea, or maybe morbid curiosity, Michael followed her.
They skirted around the building and through an opening in the chain-link fence. The machinery noise was louder back here. Dani scouted the area and headed toward what looked like a hangar, where a couple of guys in hard hats and high-vis yellow vests were standing around a forklift, smoking.
Dani walked right up to them. “Hey, do you guys know Matt Dempsy?”
“Why do you wanna know?” The shortest man in the bunch tugged on his saggy jeans and blew out a cloud of smoke.
“We went to school together. Back then, we called him Slick because he was so good at getting out of trouble.”
The group laughed and relaxed.
“That’s Dempsy all right. But he’s not here. He works on the other side of town.” An older man with a missing tooth and the name Cooke on his shirt took a puff on his cigarette.
“Does everybody have their own routes?” Dani asked.
Saggy Jeans nodded. “The truckers do. They stick to the same route for the most part.”
Dani bounced on her toes. “Since Dempsy’s not here, maybe you could help me. Do you do the oil disposal as well as the regular trash management here?”
“Nah, they do the oil recycling at the facility north of town. We only run the regular garbage trucks here.”
Cooke continued explaining.
But Michael didn’t hear it. Not when a hard-looking guy, lanky, with stringy brown hair, swaggered past. His gaze flashed with dark interest as he looked Dani up and down.
Every nerve in Michael’s back twitched. He kept an eye on him as the man crept closer, close enough Michael could make out the tat on his arm, some sort of wild cat.
Dani chuckled at something the older guy said. “Your profession really is underappreciated. Without you, it would get bad really fast. You guys are heroes.”
The creeper in the background moved closer but stayed behind a pile of tires.
Okay, this was getting to be a little much. Michael dropped his arm around Dani’s shoulders. “We should let these men get back to their noble work.”
“Right.” She shook their hands and gushed a bit more before Michael practically dragged her away.
And the whole time, the Wild Cat Creeper watched them.
Dani didn’t exactly mind Michael’s arm around her as they walked back to his car, but it was weird.
And…amazing. Still, he must have a reason, and as soon as they were in the safety of his vehicle she would find out what was going on. She couldn’t let a childish crush distract her. Not when she was fighting so hard to get this case solved and get out of Renegade—fast.
“So, why the protective-boyfriend cover?” Dani asked him as he started his engine.
“Did you see that guy in the background ogling you? He needed to back off, and it was the quickest way to communicate that.” He pulled out into traffic and headed toward the hills where they lived.
Ah. So it wasn’t because Michael felt anything romantic. How silly of her to even consider it a possibility.
Not that she wanted him to…
“Oh, so you did it to show him I’m ‘taken’?” She used air quotes. “Sheesh, Michael. I’ve taken down men twice my size. I think I can handle myself.”
“No doubt.”
“So why did you feel the need to stake your claim? Some stupid guy code where everyone has to mark their territory?”
“Dani, I have four younger sisters. If a guy was looking at them the way he was looking at you, I would’ve taken him down and thrown him in jail.
Pretending to be your boyfriend was the only way I could think of that wouldn’t ruin our cover story.
I didn’t mean to imply that you couldn’t handle yourself. ”
The protective-big-brother move. Michael probably couldn’t help but see her as one of his sisters.
And even though she should be grateful that it meant less to distract her, something about that didn’t sit well.
She shoved the thought aside. “Well, I’m not your sister, and I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can. And you’re right.” He blew out a long breath and glanced over at her. “I’m sorry. I’ll back off and not pull that move again.”
“Good.”
She purposely ignored the pang of disappointment reverberating inside.
Michael stopped at the light. “So what did we actually accomplish there?”
“Besides letting me investigate a case way more interesting than running accounting reports? I learned that they do the oil pickup once a month, but the regular garbage is once a week. And it happens at different facilities. The drivers for the oil have different certifications too.”
“That’s what you were asking?”
“You were right there. Didn’t you hear me?”
“I got distracted, sorry. But regardless…I don’t think we really found anything helpful.”
“Sometimes it’s more about greasing the wheels. See, now, if we have more questions or want info, we can ask Ron, Steve, and Denny. After work, they like to have a beer at O’Malley’s.”
“Of course you got their names and hangout spot.”
“Name badges. They were all wearing them. And they invited us both to the bar. But you must’ve missed that too.”
After a beat of silence, Dani looked over at him. “Did I lose you again?” She was about to say more, but his eyes narrowed at something in his rearview mirror.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I think someone is following us.”
She craned her neck to look behind them. Michael switched lanes. Sure enough, a dark-gray Ford truck three cars back did too. Michael took a quick right turn. The truck did the same and gained on them.
“He’s still on our tail.” The glare of the sun on the truck’s windshield prevented Dani from seeing the face, but the dusty old truck was sure familiar.
Another left turn and he was right on them.
“What is this guy doing?” Michael mumbled.
“I don’t know, but you’d better floor it.”
“I am.”
Michael sped up and wound through the suburban streets, but the truck stayed on them. “He’s definitely following us.”
The road climbed in elevation. They were hitting the foothills outside of town. The SUV engine rumbled up the road.
“Hold tight.” Michael adjusted his grip on the wheel.
Trees blurred as they flew past. Dani braced herself with an arm on the dashboard. Michael maneuvered the car well, but as they went into a sharp curve, the truck sped forward and cut them off, shoving them completely off the road.
Dani screamed as they slid down the mountain.