Chapter Eighteen
The restaurantat the inn was teeming with guests sitting down for lunch. Tables were filling up fast, and Agent Wallace hadn’t come down from his room. Josh’s diver’s watch indicated Wallace had two minutes. If the man weren’t on time, Josh would go to him. One of Josh’s flaws was impatience, which had gotten him into trouble a time or two. In fact, it had almost gotten an American killed.
His team had been surveilling a known enemy of the US in the mountains of Afghanistan. Their job had been to gather data—who went in, who came out, and any activity that would help them find two reporters who had been captured. Their commander had told them not to engage under any circumstances.
But the gun to the reporter’s head had spurred Josh into action, and his instinct had been to save the hostage. Hell, it was a normal human reaction. Luckily, one of Josh’s teammates caught him before he’d ruined the mission, and even though they’d been successful in saving the two Americans, he had gotten his butt chewed out, and he’d deserved it.
Right now, though, Josh wasn’t spying on a known terrorist. He didn’t have to worry about others getting killed. He just needed answers. Time was ticking away, and the more days that passed, the more his hope of finding Liza dwindled.
The elevator dinged, and Wallace sauntered out as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He’d ditched the suit from yesterday and donned a pair of black slacks and a white golf shirt with the FBI emblem embroidered in the upper left. Josh expected to see a gun at the agent’s hip or a holster around him, but Wallace came across like a man ready to play golf.
Josh dipped his head in the opposite direction of the restaurant. “Let’s use my office. I need the space quiet so I can hear you.” They didn’t need anyone eavesdropping either.
When they were seated inside, Wallace asked, “How did you lose your hearing?”
The man wanted to chitchat, when all Josh wanted to do was tell him to cut the bull.
“I see from your tat that you were a SEAL? A mission gone wrong?”
Josh briefly glanced at his tat, which read, “The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.” That was the truth. No one understood the meaning more than SEALs. Regardless, Josh decided to humor Wallace to give himself a chance to calm down. Otherwise, the meeting wouldn’t go well. Or worse, it could land Josh in jail for assaulting a federal agent.
“I was in an explosion on a classified mission. I hate to be rude, but what’s the breakthrough you mentioned?” Josh picked up a pen that was lying right where he’d left it after signing employee checks.
Wallace grinned as though he was proud of Josh for getting straight to the point. “Where’s Riley? We need her to look at some photos of the men in the SUV.”
“Shouldn’t you be showing them to Taylor?” She’d gotten the best look at the men.
“We will.” He gave his phone to Josh. “Is that the SUV you saw at Liza’s apartment?”
Josh studied the photo. He could see two men through the windshield, which wasn’t tinted. The driver had dark hair as Riley had mentioned, but the passenger was the man Taylor had described—bald head and goatee. He also had tanned skin; dark, beady eyes; and a piercing in his left ear.
If Josh weren’t mistaken, Baldy was glancing out the driver’s side window, giving Josh the impression that the man had seen Riley.
Josh’s blood gelled. If Baldy had seen her, then she could be in danger too. “Do you know who these men are?”
Wallace crossed one leg over the other. “Riley might be right about Moretti’s men showing up in California. We pulled a video from the cameras on the street that Liza lives on. The bald guy we believe works for Moretti. The driver is none other than Moretti’s son.”
Josh’s muscles tensed. “Seems to me they’ve pegged Riley. She could be in danger.”
“Where is she?”
“She went into the city to talk to Taylor. She still believes Taylor is hiding something.”
Wallace collected his phone. “That may be, but all we could drum up on Taylor was she’s a rich girl from a rich family, with daddy issues.”
That explained her expensive clothes, and daddy issues might’ve explained why she was living in a run-down building. Maybe Rich Girl was trying to show her father that she could cut it on her own.
“Dennison and I are headed out to meet two agents from the SF FBI office at Liza’s place. Then we’ll stop by and show these photos to Taylor. In the meantime, my team is working on getting a better angle of the SUV and the license plate. I’ll text you the photo.”
“I want to go with you.” Josh knew that wouldn’t be allowed, but he asked nonetheless. Dad had always said it never hurt to ask. All a person could do was say no. “I know Liza’s neighbor. He might open up more if I’m there.”Part lie. Part truth.
Wallace leaned forward. “The best thing for you to do is stay put. My team and I got this.” He rubbed his thumb over his forefinger. “You miss the hunt, the adrenaline rush of missions. Don’t you?”
Josh hitched a shoulder. “I’ll never be a SEAL again.”
“No, but have you thought about law enforcement?”
Josh let out a laugh as he pointed to his left ear. “Completely deaf in this ear.” Then he touched his right. “I can barely hear out of this one. What makes you think I could protect my partner’s back if I was a cop or an agent?” Josh was digging the idea until he thought of his dad.
