Option to Kill (Nathan McBride 3) (33 page)

“I’m impressed, but you’re only half right.”

“She’s the cop, not you. If you’re after information on my Opus X A buyer, don’t bother asking unless you can produce some paper.”

“We’re hoping to avoid that,” Nathan said.

“No doubt you are, but I’m protective of my clients, especially the one you’re interested in. For one, he tips like a champ.”

“I’m really more interested in you,” Nathan said.

Samantha’s expression changed.

“You may have us nailed, but I’ve got you nailed as well.”

“I’m intrigued. Do tell.”

“You don’t like men much, except as customers. You have one or more cats. You’re left-handed, you like to vacation in Mexico, and your favorite color is blue. Oh, and you’ve got a rocking plastic surgeon.”

After a few seconds, Samantha said, “To quote someone I just met, what gave it away?”

“A couple of things,” Nathan said with a straight face. He saw Grangeland roll her eyes.

Now Samantha smiled a genuine, gleaming grin. “Well, big guy, you just earned my undivided attention.”

“There’s a very traumatized young girl in our car, and we think the man who buys your Opus X A’s is responsible for hurting her. We think he’s a serial. We’re talking about half a dozen girls.”

Samantha paused, and Nathan saw he’d scored a direct hit. “Then why no paper?”

“I’m working independently.”

“With a cop? Did this girl’s father hire you?”

“She’s an orphan.”

“How do I know this won’t come back to bite me?”

“You don’t.”

Samantha lit a cigarette and squinted. After a few seconds she reached down, opened a drawer, and placed a file on her desk. “If you’ll excuse me for a minute, I need to check on some inventory in the humidor.”

Without looking back, Samantha walked out of her office and closed the door behind her.

“You want to tell me what just happened?” Grangeland asked.

Nathan opened the file. “We communicated.”

“Yeah, I gathered that. How did you know all that stuff about her?”

“I presume you mean the not-so-obvious things? See those eight-by-ten photos on the wall behind her desk? I gambled on the woman in both of them being more than just a friend.” He nodded toward the door. “She’s working the register out there. This is a mom-and-mom establishment.”

“That was a big gamble.”

“Look at the photos. What else do you see? The photo on the left is in Cancún. The one on the right’s in Cabo. Both picture frames are blue. So is her coffee cup, and her hair tie’s also blue.”

“What about the cat reference?”

“Hair on her blue blouse.”

“You saw all of that?”

“You’re forgetting what I used to do for a living.”

“I can’t forget something you haven’t told me.”

“Point taken. Trust me, if we’d tried to strong-arm Samantha, she would’ve clammed up.”

“I’m amazed.”

“At what?”

“You got the information without having to break anyone’s arms.”

“Thanks…I think.”

“Well, we’ve got what we came for. Now what?”

“It’s time to cull Voda’s herd.”

“I’m a special agent in the FBI. I didn’t hear that.”

On the return walk through the shop, Nathan spotted Samantha inside the walk-in humidor. “I’ll be right back,” he told Grangeland.

“You find what you needed?” Samantha asked as he approached.

“Yes, thank you.”

“The place is near Montgomery Field. Some kind of furniture retailer.”

Nathan thought that sounded promising. Marchand manufactured patio furniture.

“Was it a big building? Like a warehouse?”

“It wasn’t really big, you know, like a Costco, but it was pretty good-size. I told the guy on the phone we don’t deliver that far south, but since he bought one hundred Opus X A’s, I told him I’d make an exception. I handled the delivery personally. The guy paid cash, just under ten grand, then threw in a five-hundred-buck tip.”

“Can you describe him? Was he fair-skinned? European-looking, with a Spanish accent?”

“I’m no expert, but yeah, I’d say he looked Spanish. He definitely spoke with an accent.”

“How about his build, hair color?”

“Tall guy, good-looking.” She smiled. “Not as tall or as good-looking as you, but he was definitely over six feet. I don’t remember the exact color of his hair, but yeah, it was darkish.”

That didn’t fit Voda, because he wasn’t tall, but it could have been one of his men. “Anything else you can tell me about the place?”

“Not really. To be honest, I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention. They wanted me to deliver the cigars at the back of the building, though. I remember feeling a little nervous about it. I thought maybe I’d get ripped off, or worse.”

“Why did you think that?”

“It was the way the guy talked to me on the phone. He sounded…I don’t know…arrogant, like a jerk. He made me feel like I was nothing more than a delivery girl, even though he knew I owned the store.”

“Yeah, that sounds like our guys. How many men did you see?”

“Just the tall guy who bought the cigars.”

“Thanks again, Samantha. You’re a stand-up woman. Sadly, it’s an uncommon trait these days. I honestly don’t think you have anything to worry about. Besides, I have a feeling some of your best customers are law enforcement, and I’m willing to bet they’re quite protective of you.”

“Right on both counts. I’m a pretty good judge of character. Despite your hardened look, you’re actually quite personable.”

Nathan didn’t respond.

“I’m being serious. What you said to me in my office? It took some manhood, if you catch my drift.” She lowered her voice. “Tell Ms. Ice Water to lighten up a little.”

“We are who we are, Samantha.”

“Amen to that. Get some payback for the girl.”

“That’s the general idea.”

Nathan left the humidor and found Grangeland near the entrance with her back against the wall, watching the door. It was no wonder Samantha had her pegged as a cop. No doubt Grangeland didn’t like being unarmed, probably felt naked without her service piece.

Back at Grangeland’s sedan, Lauren looked a little peeved at having been delegated to babysitting duty. Still under the influence of the anesthetic drugs, Abrille slept with her head propped against a pillow.

Nathan slid into the front passenger seat while Grangeland retrieved her GLOCK from the trunk. He pivoted toward Lauren and asked, “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

With crossed arms, she said, “I don’t like being left in the car.
I
could’ve helped you.”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t have liked it in there.” Nathan told a white lie. “The place was lousy with smoke.”

“You aren’t kidding,” Grangeland said, supporting his exaggeration. “My eyes are burning,”

“Mine too. Let’s get back to the RB Inn.”

“I’m staying with you,” Lauren said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Nathan didn’t respond. In her note, Jin had mentioned Lauren’s stubborn personality, and some of it seemed to be showing. He had little doubt Lauren would strongly resist staying with Grangeland and Abrille. But rather than challenge her statement, he kept quiet and thought about his next move: a little visit to the furniture store. He needed to properly introduce himself to the tall Spaniard.

Back at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, Nathan parked as close to the entrance as possible to minimize Abrille’s walk.

He needed to call his father. Further delay would serve only to distract him, but he didn’t want to make the call until he was alone. He looked at his watch — his father would already be on the Senate floor. Nathan decided to send a text and tapped the message in capital letters.

SITUATION CRITICAL: CALL ME BACK ASAP

That ought to get his dad’s undivided attention.

Everyone in the sedan waited until he was finished texting. Nathan pivoted to face Lauren. “I know you don’t want to stay with Grangeland and Abrille, but I really need you to. I promise I’m not ditching you — you have my word. I won’t be gone long, a couple of hours at most.”

“But I want to come with you.”

“Please don’t make this difficult for Grangeland, okay?”

She sounded dejected but said, “Okay.”

He felt some surprise at her reaction. He’d expected an argument. “Try to get some sleep. You haven’t had much in the last thirty-six hours.”

Lauren nodded slightly. “I will.”

“Thank you.” He knew Lauren didn’t have his stamina, so he chalked up some of her compliance to fatigue.

He looked at Grangeland. “This could be a dead end. Give me two hours, max. Understood?”

Nathan knew she’d gathered his meaning — her expression confirmed it.

After Grangeland retrieved her overnight bag and briefcase from the trunk, Nathan waved good-bye and drove out of the parking lot.

Chapter 26

Without Lauren, Nathan felt tremendous freedom, as if a giant burden had been lifted. He knew it wasn’t fair to think of her in that light, but facts were facts. Lauren complicated things. Not only would her absence allow him complete independence, it would also free him from constantly worrying about her safety.O[Op Nathan wasn’t overly concerned about his own safety, but if anything happened to him — like death — at least Lauren would be secure with Grangeland. Lauren’s long-term future remained in question, but at the very least, being Senator Stone McBride’s granddaughter would afford her a solid future.

Nathan preferred not to use Grangeland’s Crown Vic for the drive to the furniture store. She might need it later, and if things turned ugly, he didn’t want to create a solid link to the FBI and Holly, at least not yet. Since he’d left Gerry’s Explorer at Dr. Reavie’s office, he made a quick detour to First Security for a vehicle change. Montgomery Field wasn’t far from First Security, so the delay was minimal.

Thirty minutes later, he arrived at the address he’d acquired from Samantha’s office. As she’d described, the building was fairly large — about the size of a big grocery store.

Staying in his vehicle, he circled the building, making a note of all the emergency exits. The loading dock looked similar to the one at Marchand’s warehouse, but smaller in scale. He didn’t see any security cameras, but that didn’t surprise him. This wasn’t a bad area of San Diego, and this building didn’t have a research or high-tech purpose like many of its neighbors did. There didn’t appear to be a need for enhanced security, at least none that he could see.

He considered his options for gaining entry. A glass facade dominated the middle portion of the storefront along the main street. The landscaping along the perimeter of the parking lot didn’t offer much visual cover. Fortunately, this wasn’t a busy thoroughfare. It terminated at the boundary of Montgomery Field. Any traffic around here would be limited to the immediate businesses.

At the end of the street, he turned around and cruised past the store in the opposite direction. He pulled up to the curb, opened a browser in his iPhone, and typed “Domino’s San Diego” into the search box. A few seconds later, he had a listing of five Domino’s locations and chose the closest one. He tapped the
GET DIRECTIONS
button and watched the route appear.

Four minutes later, he was walking up to the counter and smiling at the young woman behind the register.

“I have an unusual request. It’s my niece’s birthday. She just turned twelve, and she loves Domino’s.” He lowered his voice. “I’ll pay you twenty bucks for your hat. She’ll absolutely love it.”

The woman spent a little too long studying his face. “Seriously? All you want is my hat?”

“Twenty bucks.”

She looked around and took it off. “Here. You don’t have to pay me.”