“Bite me.”
He nipped my shoulder.
“Hey!” I laughed.
“Why don’t we pick something up on the way?” He asked.
“That’s probably for the best.” I agreed.
Tarek kissed my shoulder and headed for the door. “Let me change and grab my shield and gun.”
I shivered at the thought of that badge on his hip. It took some doing to pull myself together and was ready to go by the time he returned. We stopped at a takeout restaurant and picked up something to fill our stomachs.
My main concern, however, was coffee.
Butte was a three-hour ride away. And Floral Park was a place of luxury and white picket fences. It was the kind of neighbourhood I’d want to raise Tarek’s kids in. I glanced over to find him smiling at me. It was as if he could read my mind and knew precisely what I had been thinking.
My cheeks flushed and I looked away.
“We can’t stake the house out.” Tarek’s voice was filled with annoyance.
“How comes?”
“Look around.” Tarek was staring into the rear-view mirrors. “The truck would stand out like a sore thumb and the people who live here, will know the Nissan doesn’t belong. We can’t take the chance Otis has people staking out the place and reporting back to him before we have a chance to see what’s in that house.”
“There’s always a downside.”
“It’s not all bad.” Tarek cleared his throat. “We’re in luck though—according to Swede, the house across the street is an Air BnB.”
“Are you suggesting me rent it?” I asked.
He nodded as he checked the mirrors then pulled back into the street. “That’s the best approach right now. We can’t barge in there, guns blazing. If Lilo is in there, he could get hurt and we don’t want that.”
“Agreed.”
“So, right now, we rent the place as a vacation home and we keep watch until we can come up with another plan.”
“Is this how you usually work?”
“What do you mean?” Tarek asked.
“It just seems to be a lot of hurry up and wait.” I told him. “Patience seems to be the big key to being in law enforcement.”
I chuckled. “You have no idea.”
When we were a distance away from the neighbourhood, Tarek pulled over. He tapped away at his phone then called Swede for some help. In no time at all, Swede had us book the home under aliases and we were ready to go in using a code the owner had sent to Swede. We stopped at a nearby supermarket to pick up enough groceries to last us a few days. According to Tarek, the less we had to wander around the community and be seen, the better.
I didn’t disagree. We had a gangster wanting me dead. I wasn’t about to take any chances.
On our way from the grocery store, we stopped at Xman’s place. We didn’t stay long—it was only for Tarek to pick up a large, black bag. I didn’t have to guess what it held—I knew. We hurried back to the house, Tarek parked the truck in the garage and closed the door before we entered the house.
Tarek set up a station in the master bedroom. He stuck a camera to the wall outside the window facing the house across the street. Soon, he had the feed running on his laptop. I did the best I could to be useful. I took over watching when he needed to use the bathroom. When he needed food, I helped with that. Eventually, I feel asleep, sitting on the floor with my head on his thigh.
I wasn’t sure how long I was sleeping but something gentle brushing my cheeks woke me. When I lifted my head, Tarek kissed my headed.
“I want you to see something.” His voice was soft.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up. “What’s going on?”
