Page 20 of Stealing Iris

She immediately turns back to her desk and stops. Her fingers hover over the keyboard as my heart beats against my chest. “Can I lookhimup?”

I lift a shoulder as unobtrusively as I can manage. “Well, according to Montoya he’s a potential client, so I don’t see why not.” Maybe she can find something I couldn’t.

Her slim fingers hit the keys like automatic fire. “I found several by that name.”

“His social ends in a bunch of zeros.”

“Seems appropriate,” Tino mumbles.

“Here ’e is.” She skims the screen as my shoulders tense. “There’s a whole lot of nothing.” She hits a key. “Which could be something.” She tilts her head, tightening her lips. “Or it could be nothing.”

Tino reaches for his beer. “Whatcha got?”

“Twenty-eight. No arrests. No tax returns. No job listed. No home or apartment. No vehicle registration. No utilities. No phone.”

“I told you he lives with his mother,” Tino shoots through.

“Born to Olga Villa in Freer, Texas. Started school in Laredo.” She hits the keyboard several times, her head dipping from one shoulder to the next as she reads under her breath. “Average student, at best.” The reading continues. “Nothing of note until high school. He got called in…for stalking a girl, though they avoided using the term.”

Knowing there’s nothing else there, I reroute her search, considering the stalking issues Kassy dealt with in the past. “Where does he spend his time?” All I’d been able to find was intel on Iz,Conrado’s boy, though Kassy can access infinitely more data.

“He goes across a lot.” I’ve never been more conscious of how hard she hits the keyboard. “Uses Iris’s car…” She left the words hanging, aware I messed with her search. “And a suburban registered to his mother.”

“Think he’s living in Nuevo Laredo?” Tino looks in my direction. Things aren’t as easy to track in Mexico. With an ability to bribe or steal, people can live under the radar if they have enough to pay. “I can go over and see what I can find.”

“Nah.” I shake my head. Tino doesn’t know it, but I already have plans for him. “He’s not worth the effort.”

Kassy rolls her finger over the scroll button. “From the crossing times, he lives over here but goes to visit.”

“Mom?”

“Nothing on Mother’s Day or Christmas.”

“Check May tenth,” I suggest. “Mexico has a set date for the holiday.” Considering he tattooed her name across his chest, he’s bound to have a solid connection to his mother.

“Checking,” she mumbles, going through the list again. “No, he’s actually not crossed around that date.” So, how does that explain him being at the store? “Nothing much going on for Mom, either. Hang on…” Seconds drag by as she reads to herself, surely just to torture me. “She updated her driver’s license last year. The address she listed is an apartment on South Louisiana Street. Two bedroom.” The picture of Olga comes up on the screen. A middle-aged woman with gray-streaked hair and too many pounds on her. “She works at a tortilla factory on the same street. Her credit took a hit a few years ago, but she managed to buy the Suburban using cash.”

“That’s it?” Tino asks.

“Clearly not a candidate,” Kassy tsks.

“You sure your mojo isn’t on the fritz, Montoya?” Tino ribs.

“All I can tell you is what the universe sends me.”

Kassy drops her head back on the office chair’s headrest. “Well, that’s a letdown.”

I grin. Trust Kassy to diffuse the situation with a quick comment.

“I’m outta here. Laters.” Kassy disconnects the call, cutting off Montoya also.

Tino eyes me as he shuts down his iPad. “You’re not done with this.”

I don’t owe him an explanation, so I just say what I couldn’t in front of the others. “I need you to look after Iris.”

He raises a brow. “What’s the problem?”

“Nothing, really,” I answer honestly. “Right now it’s as simple as me wanting her to get home safe at night.”

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