Page 60 of Love Takes Home

“What are we thinking?”

“I’m thinking it’s really fucking convenient that within a week of her visiting Diamond Cove a kid on their basketball team dropped mid-game like the kid in Boulder Canyon with the same shit in his system. And a kid in Rock Hill died this weekend of a suspected overdose. We’re waiting on the autopsy report forhim. And my brother-in-law was bitching last week about the drug issues happening on campus needing EMS to respond. The timeline for all of it was shortly after she had paid each place a visit.”

“So you think she’s the delivery girl?” Grady asks, taking notes.

“Why would a delivery girl have a past that we can’t find?”

“That’s your job to figure out,” Daniel growls, pointing at Nate and me.

“Who’s on her now?” I ask, ready to take my own notes.

“Jones has been trailing her for months, and since we aren’t following your girl’s guy anymore, Smith has been assisting.”

I snarl at the reminder of Keith. I can’t help it.

“Do you still think they’re clean?” I have to ask.

“Yes,” he says, no doubt in his tone. If Daniel trusts them, I trust them. I nod my acceptance.

“Can we put more guys on her?” Aiden asks.

“I don’t know. We can’t prove she’s actually doing anything. Can’t prove that she’s hurt anyone.”

“That we know of,” Grady adds.

“We have other jobs we need to worry about. We’ll keep Jones and Smith on her for now and hope she fucks up somewhere.”

My mind is still thinking about the woman and what her role is with all these kids when Daniel brings up the cabin.

“We’ve got two families we need to move. One needs the cabin, and we’ll bring the other one here.”

“How serious we talking?” I ask, all business.

“The first family, the one going to the cabin with you, should be an in and out job. Husband is going on a buddy trip and he won’t do anything to them before he goes. The other family is going to require as much brute manpower as we have. Might also require your, um, skills.” He looks at me.

I might know my way around computers, but I’m an expert marksman and trained sniper. None of us like to think we mightneed those skills on any of our jobs, but when we know it’s going to be more like a smash and grab and hope we can get them out without anyone being hurt, they call me in to slow the abuser.

“That one is delicate. It’s a seventeen- and fifteen-year-old. Both girls. Father called us because he can’t get them. Stepfather beat the shit out of the oldest last time he went to the house. Mom is covering for the asshole and told the cops she’s a liar with behavior issues.”

“Fuck,” Grady hisses.

“We’re working with James Covey and an associate of his to get paperwork for both jobs. The father wants to disappear with his girls and the other family needs everything.”

I smirk at the associate Daniel is referring to, knowing it’s Ginny’s dad.

We discuss the details and split up the teams. Daniel also tells us about a few bodyguard jobs coming up. One is in Boulder Canyon with a baseball player in a high-profile gig.

“We need to figure out who the woman is and how she stays ahead of us. We need to assign teams, and we need to keep our noses clean.” Daniel taps on the table. This is how he ends all of our meetings. “And if that’s all, ladies, I’ll be taking my lovely wife to lunch.”

Daniel leaves the room and we all pack up our shit. Nate stops me before I can leave.

“We need her DNA.”

I know he’s talking about our lady.

“How the fuck do we do that?”

“I think we need to talk to your buddy, Ranger. See if he’s still in with the people who run the Mexican place in Rock Hill. We know she’s still frequenting and if she meets up with Keith there at any point, they might be able to help. Maybe we can get his, too, and see if there’s anything out there about him. I don’t like either one of them.”

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