Page 3 of ELITE Justice
“Good to know. Alex is expected sometime next week.” Quin sipped his coffee. “Does she travel with him, now?”
Jonathan smiled. “No. She’s still on active duty, but TDY with Homeland Security. She gets called out of the country quite often, but I think she tries to join Alex whenever she’s able.” He needed to change the subject. “How far away is Houston?”
Quin leaned back in his chair. “Easily three and a half hours. A lot depends on traffic. Just getting out of Dallas can be a bitch. Looking to transfer to the Guardian Houston Center already?”
“Hell no! I’m thrilled to death to be here. One of my Marine Corps buddies joined the FBI and is stationed there.” Jonathan hadn’t seen Archer Stillman in years but when he’d decided to move to Dallas, he called his old friend just to touch base. He promised to make the road trip down and spend a few days playing tourist and catching up. Arch was in the same place emotionally as Jonathan, single and hunting for nothing more than a good time.
“There are some damn good restaurants down there,” Quin suggested. “We did some training at Fort Hood and escaped one weekend to Galveston.” He chuckled. “I guess we SEALs just missed the water. Fort Hood was so fucking dry, but it was good training for the sandbox.” He grinned. “At least Dallas has several lakes where I can get my gills wet. I haven’t been back to Houston or Galveston since taking the job here, though. Guess I need to add that to my list of places to go and things to do in Texas.”
Gwen floated in with arms full of plates and slid his drink onto the table. “Your order will be up next.” She was gone as fast as she’d appeared, commenting on the hot weather as she set plates in front of a table of cops.
Jonathan was about to ask if Quin had met the police chief when his thoughts were interrupted by a woman’s shrill voice.
“I figured I’d find you here.”
He turned to see a woman in a yellow sundress, with salon-perfect hair, clacking in four-inch high heels toward the back of the restaurant.Oh. My. God. Someone’s in trouble.Jonathan looked around for a guilty face, but he read only astonishment from the other patrons. A few hid smirks as they darted their gazes away.
“How dare you freeze my credit cards?” The Texas twang rang thick through every word.
Quin’s gaze was quartering the room, searching for the culprit. When his eyes met Jonathan’s, he lifted one shoulder a quarter of an inch.
The clacking stopped next to his boss’s chair and a manicured hand smacked the table. He looked at the half-dozen rings she wore on just that hand and mentally totaled their worth. A family of four could live comfortably for several years on just those jewels.
When Jonathan looked up, all eyes in the restaurant were staring…at him.
What the fuck?
He glanced at Quin whose brows almost met in the middle.
The woman shifted her glare from Quin to Jonathan. “Well, how soon can I use my credit cards? I need to buy a new dress for the charity auction and cocktail party tonight.”
Quin cleared his voice and stood. “Ma’am, you are obviously mistaken. I haven’t a clue who you are. I have nothing to do with your credit cards.”
Jonathan rose in unity. He purposefully caught the gaze of one of the policemen at the nearby table. They exchanged barely perceptible nods. This woman was clearly delusional.
Smack. She hit the table once again.
“You’re a liar. You work for Guardian Security.” Her pointed finger flew to the gray logo on Jonathan’s shirt, jabbing at it as she accused, “Because of you, my husband is in jail and that bitch of an attorney general has frozen all my money. It’s bad enough I have to go to this damned event without Bill, but I’m not wearing a dress everyone has already seen.”
Quin looked clueless, and Jonathan had no idea who any of these people were or what the hell she was talking about.
Gwen appeared with their food and hip-checked the woman out of the way. She set the plates on the table and called out to everyone, “Show’s over folks. Go back to your food and drinks.”
She turned to the woman and Gwen fisted her hands on her hips. “Bitsy, what the hell? You know better than to bring your dirty laundry into my restaurant.”
“Well, I tried to get into their office, but it’s like Fort Knox.” Bitsy opened the gigantic yellow purse and started to dig. “Besides, this isn’tyourrestaurant. Suze and James will be back soon.”
Gwen cocked her head. “It is mine right now since they left me in charge.” Under her breath, she added, “Damn it all.”
Jonathan flipped the leather tab that secured his handgun in the holster at his side. If she pulled a gun out of there, he’d be ready. A glance toward the standing cops revealed they’d done the same.
Bitsy lifted her head and wagged a single key on a ring. “This fucking thing doesn’t work anymore.” The irate woman vibrated. “Because if it had worked, I would have killed that husband-fucking secretary of theirs.” She glared lasers at Quin and Jonathan.
Then Bitsy pulled a pink Glock 26 from the outside pocket of her purse.
CHAPTER2
Damn Bitsy,making a scene in her restaurant. Gwen didn’t need that crazy woman disturbing her customers. Aunt Suze and Uncle James had built a wonderful reputation and it wasn’t going to hell under Gwen’s watch.
