Page 47 of Fast Justice

Manny scoffed. “Nothing’s ever totally secure. Find Oceane and Anya. Find the lawyer if you have to.”

“Trying. I’ve got eyes and ears all over this city. If I hear anything, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Not good enough. I want this dealt withnow, do you understand me? Send your best man in to find a lead. Pay whoever will help us, offer whatever it takes. Just take the woman if that’s easiest, find out where my daughter is, and then make our problem disappear. Got it?”

Montoya was quiet a moment. “How much you willing to spend?”

“I told you. Whatever it takes. You understand?” Even if this phone line was secure, he wasn’t going to come right out and say something that might incriminate him later. Montoya knewexactlywhat he meant.

“Yeah, I understand.” Montoya’s voice held an undercurrent of anticipation. His most lethalsicario, about to have his leash cut and turned loose to do what he loved most.

It was probably going to come back to haunt Manny in the end, but at this point, he was willing to risk it because he didn’t have any other option. He needed this taken care of immediately or risk losing everything.

Once again, letting Montoya do what he loved best was Manny’s best chance of getting what he wanted.

****

Rowan’s new phone rang a little before two that afternoon. She glanced at the screen, couldn’t help but smile when she saw the number on the display. “It’s Malcolm,” she told the male agent, who had stopped reading his newspaper to look at her.

When he nodded his consent, she got up and walked from the kitchen into her new bedroom for the foreseeable future, wanting at least the illusion of privacy.

“Hey,” she answered, relieved that he’d called. Things had still been somewhat unsettled between them when she’d left his place a few hours ago. Part of her had worried that he would pull away now that they’d slept together, that he’d withdraw from her emotionally. Him reaching out to her now was a good sign.

“Hi. How are you settling in? Your new detail okay?”

Just hearing his voice made her feel better. “They’re fine.” Remote but professional. “I’ll be honest—I liked my last detail way better.”

“Yeah, I liked my last assignment better too.”

Her smile turned wistful. They’d been woken from their post most-amazing-sex-ever nap just before eleven that morning by a phone call from Commander Taggart, informing them that a new detail was being sent over for her within the hour, and Malcolm was to relieve Hamilton and return to guarding Anya.

Agents had arrived shortly thereafter and whisked Rowan off to a new safe location, where she’d been given an update on the state of the investigation. After undergoing a polygraph test, both Anya and Oceane had been cleared of any wrongdoing with the bombing and released back into protective custody this morning. A huge relief for Rowan, to know that the women she’d been trying to help hadn’t been involved.

FBI analysts assigned to the case had found exactly what Oceane said they would on her phone, but her bodyguard was long gone, might even have slipped back into Mexico. Surveillance footage from the cameras outside Rowan’s building had shown nothing about the bombs being planted in her and her boss’s cars, because someone had disabled them for a critical ten-minute window.

Whoever had done it, they were pros. The type of explosive, the method and timing, however, all pointed toVenenoinvolvement. Ruiz had denied having anything to do with it. And no one knew where the hell Manny Nieto even was. Which one of them was responsible?

“How long do you think you’ll be there?” Rowan asked, missing him already even though it had only been a few hours. This morning had been amazing, and being able to fall asleep in his arms had soothed her on the deepest level.

Except they hadn’t had time to talk about things, and what each of them wanted and what would happen going forward. She wasn’t sure if having a reprieve was a good thing or a bad thing. Them being separated didn’t help either. Too much time and distance might allow him to pull back and put that wall back up between them again.

“Not sure. Depends on what happens.” He paused a second. “How are you holding up?”

“Okay.”Except I miss you like crazy. So much she ached, especially since things were still up in the air between them. She wanted another chance at a real and lasting relationship with him, to make up for the mistakes she’d made last time. Now that Malcolm had made her face and own her fears, she was willing to work past them.

Because he was worth fighting for, and she didn’t want to remain trapped in this lonely existence she’d created for herself. The only benefit of her work right now was that she had a ton of it, and it would keep her mind occupied.

“I’m going to call Nick in a little while and find out how Kevin is, then talk to my parents,” she said. “I won’t be going into the hospital anymore until this is resolved.”

“That sucks, but it makes the most sense given what’s going on.”

“I know. I just hate being away from my brother right now.”

“He’ll understand. And he knows you would be there if you could.”

“Yes.” She rubbed her palm over her denim-covered thigh, anxious about asking the next question yet not being able to contain it a moment longer. He hadn’t brought it up, but they couldn’t dance around the obvious forever. And she was under enough strain right now without the extra anxiety of worrying about losing him on top of everything else. “So, I have to ask this, because it’s driving me insane not knowing.”

“Not knowing what?”

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