Page 54 of Jina

She was better with the rifle than her handgun, but she was confident she could take him down with her service weapon if needed.

When Cole’s phone rang, he simply passed it to her. Recognizing Rhy’s number on the screen, she quickly answered. “Hey, Rhy. Got my message?”

“Yeah. Walk me through it.”

She did so, keeping her voice low so the conversation couldn’t be heard beyond their table. When she finished, there was a long silence.

“What’s wrong? Did I forget something?” She hoped he wasn’t backing out of supporting her to do this.

“No, I’m just thinking. I like the idea of you guys stopping here for a while. I’ll have Gabe work on getting a blueprint of the property. Sounds like there’s some coverage, but it’s not like being out in the middle of the woods.”

“True. I didn’t want to go out too far, or he’d suspect a trap.” She nodded to the others as she spoke to let them know Rhy was on board. “Have Gabe get all the intel he can. We’ll be there in an hour or less.”

“See you then.” Rhy ended the call.

“We’re a go.” She handed Cole his phone back. “I only wish we didn’t have to wait until dark. Sitting around doing nothing is going to drive me crazy.”

“It will drive all of us crazy,” Flynn agreed. “But waiting for darkness to fall is better.”

The pretty server came back with their check. She placed a hand on Zeke’s back as she set it down beside him. “Do you need anything else?”

“No, we’re good,” Flynn said with a wry smile. The pretty server barely glanced at him. “Thanks anyway.”

“I hope you come back to dine with us again soon.” She finally moved away.

“Sheesh, Zeke, what is up with that?” Cassidy groused. “I thought Grayson was the chick magnet.”

“He’s taken.” Zeke grinned, then pulled cash from his pocket to pay the bill. “Ready to hit the road?”

“Yep.” Jina closed her laptop and tucked it into her bag. “I’ll take a rideshare to the Red Mill Motel to pick up the SUV, then meet you at the precinct.”

“I’m going with you,” Cole said firmly. He’d shut his computer too.

Swallowing her argument, she simply stood and slung her bag over her shoulder. Then on second thought, she handed it to Cassidy. “Would you mind taking this with you?”

“Not at all.” Cassidy took the bag. Cole must have decided to go along with that idea, as he handed his to Flynn before coming over to stand at her side.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Of course.” Apparently, Cole was determined to be her shadow, whether she liked it or not.

The biggest problem? She liked it.

More than she should.

Following Jina outside, Cole wished he could poke more holes in her plan. The time frame of not heading out to the rental until late afternoon was a bit of a problem.

He was torn between wanting to find and interview Brad Crow’s friend Wade Adams and sticking close to Jina. His boss expected him to make some progress on the cold case murder investigation, but the last time he’d left her alone to interview Brad’s parents, she’d nearly been killed.

Nope, leaving her wasn’t an option. He probably wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the interview anyway as he’d be too preoccupied on what she was doing. In the past twenty-four hours, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to stay close.

At least until they had this guy in handcuffs.

While Jina and her teammates had discussed the details of the upcoming operation during breakfast, he’d begun searching for Wade Adams. Finding an old online Peabody High School yearbook for Wade’s senior year had helped. He’d actually taken the time to look at Jina’s yearbook picture too. She had been beautiful back then, but she was even more stunning now.

No surprise that Brad had become fixated on her. He really needed to interview some of the guy’s female classmates. He doubted Jina had been the first girl he’d watched from afar.

But she may have been the last.

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