“Okay, that’s it, people,” Flint said. “We need to leave the room or they’ll be kicking us out. I know you’ve all got other cases you’re working on aside from this, so I’ll let you get back to your desks. Good to see you up and about, Kit.”
“Yeah, you miss me?”
“Like a hole in the head,” Flint grumbled. “Nash, can I have a quick word?”
“Sure thing.”
When everyone got to their feet and made their way out of the room, Nash remained seated. Soon, only he and Flint remained.
“Well, you’re back in work today, so I take it the conversation with your mate went well yesterday.”
Nash nodded. “Better than I could have hoped for. Turns out the husband is an abusive loser. I had the pleasure of escorting him out of Aria’s house last night.”
“Shit, no kidding?”
“For real. I mean, we’re not technically together yet, but we’re on the right track.” Nash couldn’t keep the grin from his face.
“Well hell, congratulations. I’m glad it worked out for you.”
“Yeah. You and me both.”
“All right, now, out. I wasn’t joking about them kicking us out of here.”
Nash nodded and ducked out of the room, then went in search of Hawk. He couldn’t believe how quiet his bear had been all morning. His animal’s restlessness had all but disappeared to be replaced by a quiet, somewhat reserved mood. It made a refreshing change. It was…restful. His bear wasn’t even giving him shit about shifting, which was unexpected, considering it had been a while since he’d last let his animal stretch its legs. He found Hawk at his desk, buried under a mountain of paperwork.
“Hey, you got a couple of minutes to talk?”
“Sure. We good here?”
Nash did a quick scan of the other people in the room, checking no one was in hearing distance, and then nodded. This conversation wasn’t for human ears.
“Yeah, here’s good.”
Hawk arched his brow. “Sounds ominous. Pull up a chair.”
Nash grabbed a chair from behind a nearby desk then put down next to Hawk.
“What’s up?” Hawk probed, when he didn’t speak at once.
“Did you happen to overhear what I said to Flint a minute ago, about evicting my mate’s husband from her house last night?”
Hawk barked a laugh. “Shit, you were serious about that?”
“Deadly. Well, the thing is, he’s Mexican, and Aria only found out after she married him that he used to work for one of the Mexican cartels.”
Hawk let out a low whistle.
“Yeah, and it gets worse. He stole money from them.”
“Shit. The guy got a death wish?”
“Seems that way.” Not that he suspected anyone would be crying about Diego’s unfortunate and inevitable demise. “Anyway, Diego seems to think they’ve caught up with him. I know you’ve got a lot of contacts in the Mexican and Mexican American communities around the city and I wondered if you could ask around for me, find out if anyone knows anything about him.”
“You want to find out if the guy is telling the truth or just full of hot air?”
“Exactly. My biggest concern is the danger to my mate’s life. I want to know how real this cartel threat is.”
“Sure, I’ll ask around for you,” Hawk said. “What’s his name?”
