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Shit. The last thing she wanted to do was scare the woman out of talking. A lawyer would slow things down—she needed information from Tara first.

Sophia wet her lips and strived for a more relaxed tone. “If you’re more comfortable with one present, we can do so at the station. To be clear, you’re not a suspect or anything like that. I’m merely trying to locate our friend here so I can question him.”

Tara sucked in a deep breath. “Okay. Yeah, that makes sense. I know where he lives. We’re not a couple, but... I’ve seen the inside of his place.”

Sophia’s spine prickled. Poor girl had slept with an assassin and had no idea. “Street address?”

Tara rambled off a street and an apartment number. Then a group of five people entered the coffee house, and she straightened in her seat. “Looks like I might be needed. Is there anything else?”

“No, that’s everything for now.” Sophia pulled a card from her pocket and passed it to Tara. “Call me if you think of anything else. And Tara? I’d stay far away from him if I were you.”

Tara swallowed as she tucked the piece of stock paper into her brown apron. “Believe me, I will.” She stood and made her way back behind the counter.

“Can we go to the park now, Mommy?”

Sophia took a sip of coffee and smiled at her daughter. “Yes, thanks for being so patient and not interrupting. We just need to make one stop first, okay?”

She took Bella’s hand, and as they made their way to the door, Sophia’s shoulder blades pull together with apprehension. Tara could call him right now. There would be no stopping her if she decided to, and Cole could end up fleeing the country before she even had a warrant in place. But there was no help for it. She’d had to make a move and at least try to locate him.

Meeting with his girlfriend sure hadn’t been on her agenda.

“Let’s go to a new park!” Bella cried. “I saw one close by. Can we?”

Sophia flashed her daughter a tense smile. Oh, to be four. It wasn’t as if she could tell Bella that she was investigating a psychopath and that hanging out in his neighborhood after he’d nearly killed her the other night wasn’t ideal.

But the crisp late August air had her longing for time outdoors before it got too chilly. “That one might be too busy right now. Maybe we’ll find a new one on the way home.”

“Okay!” Bella hopped into her car seat and Sophia clipped her in.

Rounding the vehicle, she got in the driver’s seat then punched in the address Tara had given her. The pin popped up on the screen on her dash. The address was only a few buildings ahead.

Sophia merged into traffic then parked closer to the location. The large distressed-brick building took up a good chunk of the block.

“Why did we stop here?” Bella asked.

“I just need to check something, honey, okay? One sec.” She slid out of the car, locked the door, and jogged the few feet to the front entrance of the building. Reading the names on the list, she frowned. Cole’s wasn’t there. Not shocking.

She pulled out her notebook. The apartment number Tara had given her was 208. She dragged her finger over the plexiglass covering, stopped on the number, then swept her gaze to the name beside it.

James Wells.

One thing was for sure: Cole wasn’t a stupid man.

But she was smarter.

CHAPTER 3

Cole balled his hand into a fist and jammed it against the dash. The loud smack resonated through his car.

For the last two days, he’d lain low. Since his back-alley tango with Bitch Cop, he hadn’t been at ease at his place. Saturday night, minutes after getting into bed, he’d given up trying to sleep and checked into a hotel.

He’d spent the previous day and most of the morning hanging out in his car to see if anyone was staking out his place. And sure enough, he’d just watched Sophia’s slim legs in black yoga pants jog from her car to the front of his building.

Her breasts jiggled in her loose-fitting white tank. The late-morning sun highlighted her olive-toned skin and made her long dark hair shine. Her beautifully shaped pink lips made him want to push her against the wall in the alley again.

Or any wall would do.

But he had a problem. A big problem.

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