Page 40 of Extraction

When the man didn’t move, I glared at him. Normally, I would be respectful, but he didn’t deserve it. “Did you enjoy my girlfriend’s company?”

“I did.” He smirked, and my hand flexed on her shoulder. “She is a beautiful woman, but I feel her flair for the dramatic doesn’t look good on her.” He tried for an insult because he felt threatened and embarrassed. A sure sign of an insecure man.

“I never asked you to join me, and for the record,” she leaned forward, and I let my hand drop away, “the next time a woman sends you a clear message that she’s not interested, maybe you should listen instead of forcing yourself into her space.”

He took a sip of his beer to drag out his moment as if he thought he had some control over the situation.

I’d had enough. I knocked his beer out of his hand, grabbed his elbow, bent it outward, and slammed his head into the table. He yelped, and I leaned down so he could hear me.

“Leave before I break your arm in front of the men you’re trying to impress.” I nodded with my chin over my shoulder. I held on to him a beat longer to drive my point home. “You even so much as look in her direction again, and I’ll show you exactly what my job is.”

I roughly let go, and he snarled as he rubbed his neck. Thankfully, he was wise enough not to push me any further and rushed to leave the table.

The waitress came rushing over, and I handed her a bill for the broken glass. “My apologies for the mess.”

“No problem.” She looked over her shoulder at the asshole who now stood with his buddies, then she stepped back and motioned that she wanted to say something. I followed her a few steps from the table. Nicole threw me a confused glance. “That man is Gabriel Valentin, and he has been watching the señora since she arrived. He even asked my amiga about her. He works with those men.”

Interesting.

“Gracias.” I headed back to the table, and Nicole gave me a worried look.

“What was that about?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” She didn’t need to know. I planned to keep an eye out for the guy.

To my surprise, she let it go. “Well, thank you.” She looked exhausted and rubbed her head then flinched a bit. “How much did you hear?”

“Enough. May I?” I pointed to the seat the guy had vacated, and she nodded, so I slid into the booth. I remembered John and Cole’s warning to be nice and that she wasn’t who we were fighting against. “I think you and I got off on the wrong foot.” I glanced at Gabriel Valentin, who was on his phone. He didn’t take his eyes off us.

“Mm.” She started to click away on her laptop.

“What are you working on?”

“I’m under a deadline to get today’s footage edited and out to Jack, my contact at the Washington Post. CNN’s reporter wasn’t far from where I was, but they don’t have what I do.”

“Edited? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I always thought you correspondents sent in raw footage, and they handled it.”

“Normally, yes, but,” she turned the screen around, and I saw that she had blurred my and Cole’s faces, “I’m meticulous, and I’m always afraid they’ll miss one, and given who you are, I’m not taking any chances.”

I liked that, and again I felt like shit for being so mean to someone who was making sure our identities were kept out of it.

“I appreciate that.”

She closed the computer and slid her drink back in front of her. “It’s my job.”

I knew it wasn’t all her job. She could have sent it and hoped her boss would do what he was paid to do and protect us.

“Paul, do you want to tell me the real reason you’re here?”

The waitress came by and put some appetizers on our table. “On the house.” She smiled. We thanked her, and once she left, I leaned toward Nicole and rested my elbows on the table.

“I think you and I might be after the same thing.” She tilted her head at me and chewed the inside of her cheek as she waited for me to continue. “Trust is everything in our respective jobs, correct?”

“Yes.”

“All right, this is me trusting you. I just hope you’ll do the same.” I went against my head and followed my gut. “Blackstone’s been hired to find a missing toddler, one that if found by the Cartel will most likely end up dead in a matter of months. He’s the grandson of the Canos family, but they only just learned about him a few days back.” I waited and watched, but her face remained unreadable. She was good; I’d give her that. “Which brings me to you.”

“Me,” she repeated, not as a question but as statement.

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