“Hey, I’m the one getting off lucky,” Quentin said. “Do you have any idea how much a quinceañera costs these days? More than my wedding and my first car combined. Just the damn party favors they wanted to give out would have cost me a couple of grand. At least they’ll have the cars throughout college.”
“What about this one?” Daniel asked, pointing to another Kia Soul in a nice, sedate cream.
Quentin shook his head. “I know my girls. They won’t want to drive the same model. I need to find something that’s different but comparable. And it has to be perfect. I don’t want to get this wrong and disappoint them.”
The guy was in knots. Granted, he’d known Quentin only a couple of months, but Daniel could have never imagined he’d see the formidable, no-nonsense DHS agent in such a state. Was this the kind of thing he was in store for, twisting himself into a tangle of nerves trying to please his future children?
Future children?
Where in the hell hadthatcome from? The last time he even thought about children was the day he brought up the subject with Joelle. She’d railed against the thought of having kids. As an only child, he’d considered it, but he’d never had a burning desire either way. He just figured if it happened, great. If not, that was good too.
When had his feelings changed? And why was he suddenly daydreaming about what life could be in the distant future, with himand Samiah celebrating their impending newborn at a joint baby shower, complete with gender-neutral cupcakes and party favors that cost a thousand dollars? He didn’t even know if Samiah was open to having a pet goldfish, and here he was thinking about kids.
What was the point when he would be gone in a matter of days? Weeks, if he was lucky. He sucked in a painful breath and tried to quell the overwhelming dread primed to overtake him.
It was time for the knot that formed in the pit of his stomach to start paying rent. It seemed as though it had taken up permanent residence ever since his call with Dwyer earlier this week. His supervisor hadn’t given him a definitive end date, but Daniel sensed that time was closing in. He figured he had about a week at the most before Dwyer would insist he wrap up this case.
The idea that he would lose Samiah wrought the kind of agony that would bring most men to their knees, but that wasn’t the only thing keeping him up at night. Nor was it his future at FinCEN, or getting the better of Bryce Stewart’s showboating ass. The thought of leaving Austin before apprehending the bastards involved in this particular scheme galled him.
And that wasbeforereceiving that link from Preston last night.
It had taken Daniel to an underground message board on the dark web that indicated the money-laundering ring coming out of the area in Latin Americawhere the Trendsetters case was centered was possibly expanding to new territory. Territory that those who peddled in much darker things than a little washed money operated in. Just thinking about what they could face if the drug cartels and human trafficking outfits learned how easy it was to launder their ill-gotten gains through something like Trendsetters’ software caused fear to clog Daniel’s throat.
Dwyer wouldn’t put as much stock into what they’d read on the message board, seeing as a lot of what came across those were full of conjecture and baseless rumors, but Daniel wasn’t willing to take a chance on this being unfounded speculation. It was imperative he solve this case before he was pulled out of Austin.
One week. He would give himself one week to get it done. It wasn’t a lot of time, but maybe if he directed more of his focus to doing the work he’d actually been sent here to do, instead of falling in love with a coworker—
Daniel tripped over an orange traffic cone used to delineate the car lot’s walkway.
“You okay?” Quentin asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good,” he replied.
Falling in love?
What in the hell was he talking about? He couldn’t be there yet. No way would he own up to something that over the top. Shit, he’d been with Joelle for six years, and it took at least half that long before he’d considered himself in love with her.
“Hey, you mind if I ask you something?” Quentin asked.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Why’d you turndown the offer Dwyer made to you?”
Daniel’s head reared back. “How do you know about that?”
Quentin just stared at him, one thick brow cocked.
Dammit, he should have known the two men talked. He’d suspected Dwyer was the one who’d requested the Department of Homeland Security place Quentin in the apartment with Daniel, and not the other way around.
“He couldn’t share much about what’s happening in Vegas, but from what he did share this seems like the kind of case that would spring you over quite a few rungs of that career ladder.”
“I told him that I want to see this job through,” Daniel finally answered.
“He could always send someone else to take over the Trendsetters case.”
“It’s not that easy. We had to put this case off for months because Trendsetters’ hiring process is so selective,” he pointed out.
“If Lowell Dwyer needs to make it happen, he’ll make it happen,” Quentin said. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the driver’s side door of a Dodge Ram pickup. “Try again.”
