Chapter 24
Jack froze hearing Maya’s voice. He walked backward on the porch until he could see her. She stood in a bathrobe pulled tight across her chest. She was squinting at him as if she couldn’t clearly see him.
“Hi, Maya.” He smiled as if he hadn’t just been caught coming out of a dark house.
“What are you doing over there? Andrea isn’t there. She’s at work.”
Jack snapped his fingers. “That would explain it. I knocked, and there wasn’t an answer,” he explained, coming down the stairs and heading toward her. “I forgot she worked tonight. Maybe I’ll stop by and have a drink. Say hello.”
Maya smiled, not seeming to suspect a thing. “Oh, that’s sweet of you. How are things going between you?”
“Fine.”
“Just fine?” She eyed him skeptically.
He liked the woman, but she didn’t need to know all the ins and outs of his and Andrea’s affair. “We’re taking things slow.”
Maya nodded, and another smile pulled across her face. “That’s good. Love isn’t a race to the finish line. It’s like a fine wine. It needs time to mature.”
“I wouldn’t call it love.”
“What would you call it?” she questioned, raising an arched eyebrow. Standing on the and with her on her porch, he felt like he was being scolded by a grandparent.
“Enjoying each other’s company.” He shrugged. Jack had nothing to hide about that. He did enjoy Andrea’s company.
“I bet.” Maya chuckled. “I will say, Andrea’s seemed happier over the past few days.”
“Don’t give me all the credit.”
“It wasn’t until you, I started to see her come out of her shell more.
She smiles more.” He had noticed that too, but he still caught the brunt end of her tongue from time to time.
She was a tigress for sure. Sweet one moment and ready to tear your head off the next.
He lo—enjoyed that about her. Damn, he had almost thought that dreaded ‘L’ word. He blamed Maya and her talk about it.
“I appreciate even though I don’t agree. What are you doing up so late?” he asked, changing the subject from him and Andrea.
“We old people don’t sleep much. Aches and pains all the time. They never tell you about it when you’re young. Do yourself a favor. Never get old.”
“Not sure I have much control over that, Maya, but thanks for the advice. Well, it’s getting late. I should get going. Have a good night.” He waved and started to turn to leave when she called out to him.
“Oh, Michael, before I forget, I’ve been talking with the neighbors about the party.”
“What party?” He didn’t remember a party.
“Your housewarming,” she reminded him.
Oh yeah, that. Shit he had completely forgotten about that. He hadn’t really wanted a party at his house but had only used that as a ruse to get Andrea to come over in a neutral environment. They were beyond that now. “We’re going to have to hold off on the party for a bit.”
“Why, what happened?” Her face changed from happy to concern.
“I may have to go out of town soon for a business meeting.” Either the mission would be over soon, or he would be reassigned. Either way, he wasn’t planning on being there much longer.
Maya’s face dropped to disappointment. “Oh, that’s too bad. The neighbors were looking forward to meeting you.”
Jack hated disappointing the old woman. He liked her, and it was clear she was putting a lot of thought into this get-together. “Tell you what, once I know my plans for sure, I’ll let you know.”
Maya grinned ear to ear. “Oh, that will be wonderful, Michael. We’ll keep it small, I promise.”
Jack wasn’t so sure about that, but the woman was happy, so he didn’t mind. “Have a good night, Maya.”
“You too, Michael.” She waved goodbye to him and watched him until he made it back to his house.
He was going to have to be careful around that woman. She was far too observant. If she ratted him out to Andrea tonight, that could spell trouble for him. At least the night hadn’t been a complete waste.
Jack pulled out the note he’d scribbled the number down on. He had some investigating to do. He sat down at his laptop and used the company database to reverse trace the phone number. It was listed under J. Smith. How original.
There was no listed address or any other information. Was it a contact or someone with WITSEC? He still couldn’t figure out why WITSEC was protecting her. She was the criminal, unless she’d made a deal, and they were protecting her in exchange for information.
“East Coast Boutique, how can I help you?” came a monotone feminine voice.
A boutique shop open this late? Jack hung up and looked up the company. There was no picture of the place, but there was an address listed that was in town. He’d scope it out tomorrow to get a lay of the area. It was better to see it in daylight versus nighttime.
Jack called Nick, happy to at least have something to show for his work.
“Yes?” Nick answered, not sounding happy to hear from him.
“I have a lead.”
“What?” He still didn’t sound happy. He probably assumed Jack would say anything to keep his position.
“I found a suitcase packed with clothes and a burner phone. The phone had a number in it. It didn’t have any results in the database, but I called it.”
“And?” Now Nick sounded more excited.
“Someone answered as a clothing store. I looked them up and found an address here in town. I’m going to go check it out.”
“Could it be a contact? One of her buyers.”
“Or WITSEC.” That had to be an option.
“Damn, those bastards keep getting in the way,” Nick snarled. He didn’t like being blindsided like this. He was a man always in the know, and with WITSEC, he was always one step behind. “If only they would tell me why they are protecting her instead of us having to sneak around like this.”
“If it is WITSEC, I can try and break in and see what intel I can get.”
“Check it out and see, otherwise keep a close eye on that woman. If she suspects you are looking into her, she could run, and we’d never find her.”
“Yes, sir.” Jack hung up. He looked back at the address of the company. It wasn’t far from the bar. He would drive by the place and head to the bar afterward to do some undercover field work.